Warriors of the Outermost: Legend of the Flame
by Kitte-Wolf
Summary: Journey to a world where humans rarely trod the land and where the cats are allowed to flourish. Join Wolf as she strives to save the good cats of this land from the dark influence of Koret and The Dragon. Rated T for character death and violence. Made of three parts, each divided into smaller "chapters".
1. Part One

Allegiences:  
BrookClan  
Leader- Rushstar, a silver shecat with green eyes  
Deputy- Frostbreeze, a white tom with hazel eyes  
Medicine Cat- Raindrop, a grey and white tom with blue eyes  
Warriors-  
Wildriver, a black tom with silver stripes and blue eyes  
Stormysky, a marbled silver and dark grey shecat with green eyes  
Mossclaw, a silvery brown shecat with green eyes  
Troutscale, a silver tom with blue eyes  
Fishleap, a white tom with bluegreen eyes  
Apprentices-  
Drippaw, a black and white shecat with blue eyes Mentor: Stormysky  
Minnowpaw, a silver and white tom with blue eyes Mentor: Fishleap  
Icepaw, a white shecat with bluegreen eyes Mentor: Mossclaw  
Queens-  
Cloudfall, a light grey shecat with blue eyes Kits: Riverkit, Pebblekit, Nightkit Mate: Frostbreeze  
Kits-  
Riverkit, a silver shecat with hazel eyes  
Pebblekit, a silver tom with blue eyes  
Nightkit, a black tom with blue eyes  
Elders-  
Jadeeyes, a black tom with jade colored eyes

RabbitClan  
Leader- Maskedstar, a brown tom with a darker marking over his face and grey eyes  
Deputy- Paintedflower, a calico shecat with blue eyes  
Medicine Cat- Stormwind, a brown and white tom with green eyes  
Warriors-  
Houndhowl, a brown tom with brown eyes  
Heatherpelt, a light brown shecat with light green eyes  
Brightlight, a white shecat with green eyes  
Galewinds, a brown and grey tom with stormy grey eyes  
Juniperbranch, a light brown tom with light purple-grey eyes  
Grasspool, a light brown shecat with green eyes  
Apprentices-  
Firepaw, a light brown and ginger shecat with blue eyes Mentor: Galewinds  
Fawnpaw, a light brown shecat with green eyes Mentor: Houndhowl  
Queens-  
Jaggedflight, a grey and brown shecat with green eyes Mate: Houndhowl Kits: Tigerkit, Dewkit  
Risingwind, a white and grey shecat with blue eyes Mate: Maskedstar  
Kits-  
Tigerkit, a brown tom with brown eyes  
Dewkit, a grey shecat with green eyes

MistClan  
Leader- Whitestar, a white tom with yellow eyes  
Deputy- Aspenring, a light grey tom with russet rings around amber eyes  
Medicine Cat- Battooth, a black tom with yellow eyes and unusually long teeth  
Medicine Cat Apprentice- Duskpaw, a dark grey shecat with blue eyes and black markings  
Warriors-  
Crowclaw, a black tom with amber eyes  
Thorntooth, a ginger tom with green eyes  
Stoneflight, a dark grey shecat with amber eyes  
Mockingbird, a light grey shecat with blue eyes  
Foxtail, a bright ginger tom with a bushy white tail and amber eyes  
Emberlight, a dark grey shecat with white paws and yellow eyes  
Gloryflame, a black tom with a white chest and amber eyes  
Half-foot, a brown tom with yellow eyes missing half of his back left paw  
Apprentices  
Burningpaw, a russet shecat with yellow eyes Mentor: Aspenring  
Lionpaw, a dark yellow tom with amber eyes Mentor: Foxtail  
Frostpaw, a light russet shecat with blue eyes Mentor: Mockingbird  
Queens  
Willowbranch, a ginger shecat with black paws and green eyes Mate: Foxtail Kits: Frogkit, Fernkit, Firkit  
Kinkytail, a brown shecat with amber eyes Mate: Gloryflame Kits: Snakekit, Nightkit, Pinekit  
Sandfur, a golden yellow shecat with yellow eyes  
Kits  
Frogkit, a black shecat with green eyes  
Fernkit, a light grey shecat with yellow eyes  
Firkit, a dark brown shecat with green eyes  
Snakekit, a black tom with yellow eyes  
Nightkit, a black shecat with yellow eyes  
Pinekit, a black shecat with amber eyes

StormClan  
Leader- Blossomstar, a white and brown tabby shecat with green eyes  
Deputy- Northwind, a silver tabby tom with blue eyes  
Medicine Cat- Crystalfern, a ginger, cream and white shecat with green eyes  
Warriors-  
Nightsong, a black and silver shecat with dark blue eyes  
Brightbracken, a ginger and white tom with blue eyes  
Moonshine, a light silver shecat with blue eyes  
Thunderwing, a brown tom with green eyes  
Sharptooth, a ginger tom with amber eyes  
Apprentices-  
Eclipsedpaw, a black and white tom with odd eyes- one hazel, one blue Mentor: Northwind  
Glowpaw, a yellow and white shecat with stormy grey eyes Mentor: Sharptooth  
Queens-  
Mousefoot, a brown shecat with green eyes Mate: Northwind Kits: Fallenkit, Windykit, Sneezekit  
Twostep, a silver shecat with two black paws and green eyes Mate: Thunderwing Kits: Astralkit, Wolfkit, Wishkit  
Kits-  
Fallenkit, a black shecat with dark blue eyes  
Windykit, a light brown tom with green eyes  
Sneezekit, a marbled brown and black tom with green eyes  
Astralkit, a silver tom with light purply blue eyes  
Wolfkit, a russet shecat with bright green eyes  
Wishkit, a white shecat with green eyes and two black paws

Cats outside the Clans  
Kary, a brown tabby farm shecat with hazel eyes  
Tory, a dark brown tom farmcat with green eyes, Kary's mate and sire to Jay, Song, and Lore  
Jay, a brown tabby tom with green eyes  
Song, a light brown tabby shecat with hazel eyes  
Lore, a brown shecat with white paws and chest and green eyes

Facet, a white shecat with yellow eyes, a rogue  
Tangle, a black tom with hazel eyes, a rogue  
Dragon, a ginger tom with amber eyes, a rogue

Pale, a light cream shecat with pale blue eyes, a loner  
Huron, a dark grey tom with bright blue eyes, a loner

Chapter One:

"Can't catch me!" a light brown kit yowled, sprinting away from his sister.  
"Can too!" The black shekit called back.  
A marbled brown and black tom sat, watching, next to three other kits. Shaded by the trees, the kits of StormClan frolicked in the late Greenleaf sun. Whilst Fallenkit and Windykit played with exuberant screeches, their littermate and denmates watched, some of the smaller kits occasionally getting up and darting into a den protected by thorns and brambles.  
"Where ya going, Wolfkit?" a white shekit asked as the russet Wolfkit got up.  
"I'm thirsty," she replied, walking to the stream that ran next to the camp.  
A brown tom hovered over the kit as she got her drink.  
"Be careful, Wolfkit. Don't fall in!" Thunderwing advised his daughter.  
"I'm fine, dad!" The two moon old kit replied. "How many times have I done this?"  
Thunderwing still hovered next to the russet kit while she drank. He only relaxed when she walked back over to the other kits.  
Blossomstar sat on the largest branch of a tall oak tree, watching the kits. Today was an important day, the day a kit becomes an apprentice. More than that, there was an apprentice ready to become a warrior.  
"Sneezekit! Windykit! Fallenkit!" Mousefoot walked out of the nursery. "Come here!"  
"Aww," the three littermates sighed in unison.  
"Now." Their mother's voice was firm.  
The trio padded over to their mother, who began to lick them furiously until all dust was cleaned off. A patrol consisting of Northwind, Nightsong, and Eclipsedpaw came back. After the patrol was back, Blossomstar raised her head.  
"Let all cats old enough to note the changes of the leaves, gather here beneath the Skytree for a Clan meeting!"  
Gradually the cats gathered.  
"Eclipsedpaw, You have trained hard and Northwind says you are ready. So by the powers invested in my by StarClan, I, Blossomstar, leader of StormClan, call upon my ancestors to watch over this young cat. He has trained in the ways of your noble code and I commend him to you as a warrior. Eclipsedpaw, do you swear to guard this Clan with your life, and live by the code of the warriors?"  
"I do." His voice was a whisper. "I do!"  
"Then I name you Eclipsedsun. StarClan honors your generosity and humility, and welcomes you as a full warrior of the Clans."  
She jumped down as the Clan called his name, licking his forehead, then he licking her shoulder.  
"Eclipsedsun! Eclipsedsun!"  
She jumped back onto her perch.  
"As well, It is time for three kits to become apprentices! Fallenkit, you are now to be known as Fallenpaw. Nightsong, pass on your loyalty and determination to this young cat."  
"Windykit, you are now to be known as Windypaw. Thunderwing, pass on your instincts and courage to him."  
"Sneezekit, it is my understanding you wish to train under Crystalfern. I name you Sneezepaw, and may you learn everything she has to teach you."  
"Fallenpaw! Windypaw! Sneezepaw!"

The patrol hurried for the border. It was a routine mission: weakening another Clan. Kill a warrior, steal a kit or two, destroy the herbs.  
This was Burningpaw's coming of age ceremony. If he succeeded, he would become a warrior. If not, more moons of training.  
His job was to steal one of the young kits of StormClan. MistClan needed to keep its population up, for in their life of fighting, many died. Their queens couldn't produce enough kits fast enough, so they resorted to theft.  
They could see the camp up ahead. A warrior ceremony. Typical. They entered behind the nursery, and the cry from Glowpaw came late. The MistClan patrol was in the camp. Claws slashed, and teeth snapped. In moments, Crowclaw and Burningpaw each had a kit, and they withdrew.  
The patrol sprinted through the forest. Burningpaw tripped over a root, but was carried onward by his Clanmates. They stopped once they crossed into their own territory.  
Burningpaw cringed. He had dropped the kit!

Wolfkit sat in the forest, scared. The late Greenleaf sun was warm, but she had heard of leafbare, where white fell from the sky and it got so cold. Too cold for kits' fur to keep it out.  
She heard the padding of pawsteps.  
"Huh… Clans don't normally leave kits out here…"  
Someone gripped the kit's scruff.  
"Let me go!" She cried, trying to bat at her abductor's face.  
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." A pale cream shecat carried the struggling Wolfkit through the forest, to a den hidden in the roots of an old, gnarled oak tree.  
"Rest now, little one." The rhythmic licks of Pale the loner comforted the kit to sleep.

"Let me go!" The silver tom kit struggled against his captors.  
He kept wriggling, but soon he was in the MistClan camp, hidden away under dark green needles, the needles that never changed.

"Northwind is dead!" Mousefoot's yowl rang through the air. "Those foxhearts killed him!"  
In the corner of camp, Twostep, Thunderwing, and Wishkit huddled together.  
"Where are Wolfkit and Astralkit?" Wishkit asked.  
"We don't know, sweetie," Twostep shook her head. "We just don't know."

Chapter Two:

The russet shecat bounced around the earthy den.  
"When can you teach me to hunt? I want to hunt!" She cried.  
"Calm down, Wolf," The pale cream shecat purred. "All in good time. But you have to learn patience first."  
Wolf quieted down. "Okay. I'll go play with my stick."  
"Good girl," Pale replied as her kit ran off to grab her twisted stick. She hadn't told Wolf the truth about her heritage. A moon after being with Pale, she had forgotten the names she cried for in her sleep. Astralkit, Wishkit, Thunderwing, Twostep. They had all faded away, and Pale was kind of sad, but she would not have traded these moons with Wolf for anything.  
The ginger shecat had come back, carrying her stick. She scored her claws along the bark, and purred at her kithood toy.  
"Ma, what are you looking so sad about?" Wolf's voice intruded in the loner's thoughts.  
"Nothing, sweet. Let's go see about hunting now." Pale smiled at her.  
"Yay!" Wolf raced out of the den, Pale following as Wolf bounced around the gnarled oak tree.

The silver apprentice stalked through the pines.  
"Too loud!" Emberlight called.  
Astralpaw sat bolt upright.  
"You always say I'm too loud!"  
"'Cause it's true," Astralpaw's mentor told him.  
Grumbling, the apprentice ran it through again.

"Come on, Wishpaw! You're falling behind!"  
Wishpaw grumbled, and continued plowing through the leafbare snow.  
"Try padding on the top," Moonshine advised her apprentice.  
This time, instead of trying to plow through the snow, she didn't press down hard, and only sunk a small amount.  
"Thanks!" She told her mentor, hurrying on to catch up with her father, Thunderwing.  
"So where we going today?"  
"Hush! We're checking out a possible rogue den and driving them out." Her father told her.  
She fell back. She had heard the story of how she lost her littermates over and over, and she remembered it as though it were yesterday. It had been so sudden. She could still recall Wolfkit's scent, Astralkit's eyes. She knew they were probably in MistClan, but that didn't reassure her.  
"Look at these!" Moonshine exclaimed. "Fresh."  
The pawprints were there in the snow, an adults and a cat around apprentice age, probably a little younger. She could smell the stark, fresh scents. One of them reminded her of a distant memory.  
"Come on!"  
The patrol bolted through the snow, following the prints.  
"You're gonna be a good hunter," A light, happy voice said as the Clan cats slowed and stalked the pair.  
"Thanks, ma!" A distinctly younger voice replied.  
"Go on, have the first bite!" The first voice said.  
"Sure!" the younger voice said, followed by the crunching of mouse bones.  
"Attack!" Thunderwing yowled, and the Clan cats launched out at Pale and Wolf.

The dark grey tom padded through the forest, on the way to see a friend of his. A trio of young cats followed him. Tory and Kory had been letting Huron take their eldest kits out on trips to see others for moons now, and they trusted each other whole heartedly.  
Jay, Song, and Lore were growing into fine young cats. They knew how to fish, how to hunt mice and rabbits and squirrels. They were fierce fighters and healthy youngsters.  
As they approached the den of Pale, they heard the yowling… yowling of Clan cats and of Pale. They sped up, and burst out, tackling the Clan cats. Song and Jay helped a young russet shecat with a white apprentice, while Lore, Huron, and Pale took the two adults. Finally, the loners had backed the Clan cats against the entrance to Pale's den.  
"Why did you attack us?" The ginger shecat, bleeding from her flank, approached them.  
"You stole StormClan prey!" The brown tom growled.  
"We need to survive too. We need the prey as much as you do!"  
"We have kits to feed!" The silver adult exclaimed.  
"And me and Pale have to feed each other. Do we really count as less because we don't live in a Clan?"  
Wishpaw held her tail up.  
"Let me speak, dad."  
The white shecat stepped forward.  
"No you do not. We just thought you and your…" Wishpaw trailed off.  
"Mom," Wolf informed.  
"Your mom were rogues who would threaten our Clan."  
Pale stepped forward. "We would never threaten your Clan. And as a matter of fact, we live in a kind of Clan of our own."  
"We do?" Wolf looked at Pale, confused.  
"Yes. The District. The District includes the barn cats, a couple of rogues, and Wolf, Huron and I."  
"You associate with rogues?!" Thunderwing exclaimed.  
"Yes. We help each other. In the winter, if one family or cat has surplus food, we share. Generally that's Tory and the gang at the barn." Pale nodded. "There is one rogue not even we will associate with. His name is Dragon. Now please, leave our den."  
Wishpaw nodded, and scurried off. Moonshine followed, and Thunderwing let a look linger on the russet Wolf before leaving.

"Twostep!" Thunderwing raced into the camp.  
His mate turned around.  
Thunderwing stopped, short of breath.  
"I think I found Wolfkit."

Chapter Three:

"The herbs that would help are all withered from the cold, but the cobwebs will stop the bleeding." Pale stretched the cobwebs across Wolf's flank.  
"Thanks, Ma," The young shecat replied.  
"Don't sweat it." Pale shrugged.  
Wolf nodded, and ran out into the snow, chasing the snowflakes that were gently drifting down.

"What?" Twofeet gasped. "How? Where?"  
"There was a russet shecat that lived in the den we… er… attacked, and her name was Wolf. She even smelled a bit like our daughter!"  
"Do you really think-?" Twofeet gasped.  
"Yes, I do," Thunderwing replied.  
"What are you two talking about?" Blossomstar padded over to them, her expression quizzical.  
"Blossomstar… The patrol and I came across some loners, and…" Thunderwing paused. "I believe one of them might be Wolfkit."

The patrol stalked through the undergrowth, ears flattened. They were checking a possible rogue den. They had surrounded it, and were moving in.  
"Attack!" Nightsong yowled, and they closed in.  
"There's no one here," Windypaw remarked. The den was empty, even though there was fresh scent.  
Just then, an orange streak bore down on the patrol. Taken unawares, one cat was down and another seriously injured before Sharptooth tackled an orange tom and pinned him to the ground.  
Wiggling away, the orange tom got free.  
"I look like no one to you?" He sneered.  
Glowmoon bent over the still form of Windypaw.  
"You monster!" She growled.  
Nightsong stood, panting, a long wound on her side bleeding hard.  
Sharptooth picked up Windypaw's body, and signaled the Clan cats to leave. Glowmoon helped Nightsong away, and the cats headed back to camp.

Mousefoot stood, eyes wide windows of pain.  
"My kit!" She wailed, her three youngest looking distraught at their mother's pain.  
"Don't cry, mommy!" Maplekit cried. "You're upsetting Shykit!"  
Fallenpaw licked Shykit's head. The young tom was curled up in a ball, shutting out the world. They had all loved their older brother. Goldenkit sat next to Shykit.  
"Windypaw'll be in StarClan with dad now," She told her littermate. "He'll be happy."  
"He'd be happy here," The little tom whined. "Why'd he have to go?"  
"It's the way of the world," Fallenpaw told her brother. "Eventually you'll have to go too."  
"No I won't! I'll stay here, so you don't have to be sad." Shykit exclaimed.  
"Of course you will," Mousefoot sighed.

The russet shecat had sprinted back to her den.  
"Ma! Ma!"  
"Wolf, what is it?' Pale asked.  
"The Dragon! He killed a Clan cat." Wolf explained, panting.  
"The monster! We have to do something." Pale began pacing.  
"You were talking about the District. Maybe… Maybe…" Wolf trailed off, thinking.  
"What are you getting to?" Pale asked.  
"The Clans have a Gathering tomorrow night, right?" Wolf asked.  
"Yes…" Pale replied.  
"Maybe we could Gather the District, and go to the Gathering, and warn them of the Dragon," Wolf finished.  
"What?!" We've lived unknown to the Clans for moons, and-"  
Wolf cut Pale off. "You told those Clan cats about us the other day, remember? Huron wasn't very happy."  
"Okay, fine." Pale sighed.

Blossomstar approached Thunderwing.  
"Let Wishpaw know she's coming to the Gathering. I'll let all the other cats who are going know."  
Thunderwing nodded, and trotted off to find his daughter.  
Blossomstar walked over to where Twostep and Moonshine were grooming each other.  
"Get ready. You two are joining us at the Gathering."  
The two shecats eyes lit up as Blossomstar walked over to Brightbracken.  
"You're coming, too."  
Soon enough the cats chosen were gathering by the fern tunnel. Blossomstar, Thunderwing, Crystalfern, Brightbracken, Twostep, Moonshine, Sneezepaw, and Wishpaw were milling around waiting for the moon to rise.

In the MistClan camp, Whitestar sat on his rock, watching as his cats gathered together, waiting for the Gathering. He had chosen Aspenring, Battooth, Foxtail, Emberlight, Frostwhiskers, Willowbranch, Frogpaw, Nightpaw, Astralpaw, and Duskpaw to come with him to the Gathering. He felt it in his bones that this would be a momentous Gathering. He read it in the mist, the fog, the sky. He knew.

In RabbitClan territory, Maskedstar watched his chosen cats gather by the entrance. On the hill above camp where he called Clan meetings, his eyes were trained on his Clanmates. He had chosen Paintedflower, Stormwind, Heatherpelt, Grasspool, Fireclaws, Tigerleap, and Dewpaw to accompany him.  
"It's your first Gathering as a warrior!" Fireclaws purred. "Are you excited?"  
"Very." The normally stoic Tigerleap had a gleam in his eyes. He wondered how he would be accepted by the warriors of other Clans.

By the river, Rushstar, beckoned with her tail for those she had chosen to join her at the Gathering. Frostbreeze, Raindrop, Stormysky, Dripcloud, Minnoweye, Riverpaw, and Nightpaw made their way over to where their leader sat, and as the moon came up, made their way to the Gathering, the apprentices bounced around, still as excited as they were for their first Gathering.

The Clans flooded into the hollow and their leaders jumped onto the large jagged rock that was Northrock. Rushstar and Blossomstar greeted each other with purrs. Maskedstar greeted Whitestar with a respectful nod. The clearing was full of the sounds of the cats greeting each other. Dewpaw and Wishpaw walked up to Nightpaw of BrookClan, while Nightpaw of MistClan approached Riverpaw. Neezepaw found Duskpaw, while Frogpaw and Astralpaw stuck together. Tigerleap and Fireclaws found Twostep and Willowbranch, while the medicine cats gravitated towards each other.  
Letting their cats greet each other, the Clan leaders struck up a conversation.  
"How are Risingwind and the kits doing?" Rushstar asked Maskedstar.  
"They're fine," He purred. "Briarkit and Birchkit are almost apprentices. Give them two moons, and they'll be here!"  
"That's great!" Blossomstar mewed. "Fallenpaw is almost a warrior. What about your kits, Whitestar?"  
"They'll be apprentices soon, too. They'll be here next moon," was Whitestar's stoic reply.  
"Wait- Blossomstar, doesn't Fallenpaw have a brother? Windypaw, right?" Maskedstar asked.  
"Yes…" Blossomstar replied. "Oh, look. Almost time to start the Gathering."  
Blossomstar was right. With the moon high in the sky, it was time to begin or else they would not have time for the Gathering and for the cats there to get back to camp and have some sleep.  
"Then… Let the Gathering begin!" Maskedstar yowled out.  
The chatter quieted.  
Rushstar stepped forward.  
"BrookClan has been doing well. Jadeeye passed away in her sleep, and Minnoweye has become a warrior." The named tom puffed his chest as his name was chanted by the Gathered cats.  
Rushstar stepped back, replaced by Maskedstar.  
"In RabbitClan, Tigerleap has received his name." Maskedstar paused to let the Clans call his name. "Brightlight has given birth to Mysterykit, Drizzlekit, and Rainkit."  
Maskedstar let Whitestar take his place.  
"Mockingbird has given birth to Thornkit, Bramblekit, and Horsekit. As well, Crowcall and Thorntooth have moved their nests to the elders den."  
Blossomstar took Whitestar's empty spot.  
"The other day, a patrol was attacked by a rogue. He injured Nightsong badly enough that she was forced to move to the elder's den, and he slayed Windypaw." The Clans bowed their heads at the loss of such a young life, when some of the cats began exclaiming in surprise. A group of strange cats was making their way into the clearing, and a dark grey tom leaped onto the rock.  
"Listen to me, cats of the Clans. My name is Huron, and I know of the cat who killed Windypaw."  
The Clan cats gasped. Could this cat be working with the rogue?  
Thunderwing's eyes widened. This cat was one of the ones that had helped defend the shecat and Wolf.  
"His name is The Dragon, and he is notorious for pouncing on lone cats and killing them. Facet?"  
A white shecat jumped up onto Northrock. Many cats recognized her as a cat who sometimes pounced on patrols, took a piece of prey, and left.  
"I-I'm speaking to you because I know The Dragon really well. You see, we shared a den for a while, but I left because I didn't like his violent ways. Sure, I take a piece of prey now and then, but only because I don't really know how to hunt."  
"The Dragon targets cats who are alone, or who come near his den. Since some of your cats survived your encounter with him, he'll have moved dens. I also know him to cavort with a group of vicious cats to the north." Clearly relieved at being done with her speech, Facet jumped off the rock to be greeted by a black tom, who comforted her.  
"Wolf?" Huron called, and the russet shecat scrabbled onto the rock. Apprentice aged, the Clans were incredulous. A rogue, loners on Northrock!  
"I watched The Dragon's ambush go down. He had laid a fake scent trail, to a den he had once occupied. Then he laid in wait, and lo and behold, a patrol of Clan cats takes the bait. I had just put the pieces together when he struck. I was going to warn the patrol, but I wasn't fast enough." Wolf looked down, her tail wrapped around her short legs. Huron stepped forward and murmured some words into her ear, when suddenly a battle yowl rang out.  
"You tricked us!" Heatherpelt called.  
Cats with strange scents poured into the hollow, and the Clan leaders called the answering battle yowls.

Chapter Four:

Stunned, Wolf watched the battle. She threw herself on a white tom and bit down. How had this happened? One moment she had been speaking, and the next, battle.  
Near the center, Huron was circled by the four leaders.  
"I'm not the enemy!" He hissed.  
"Tell that to the mice!" Maskedstar growled.  
Whitestar lunged, his jaws almost snapping around Huron's neck when a russet streak barreled into him. Backing up next to Huron, Wolf snarled.  
"If you want to hurt him, you'll have to go through me!" She snarled.  
The leaders continued circling, eyes looking out for a place to strike. They didn't get a chance. A ginger streak flew by, and in a moment, Rushstar lay on the ground, blood flowing from her neck. A large tom with brown eyes stood over her, a triumphant look on his face.  
Whitestar snarled and crouched down. Maskedstar padded forward, muscles tensed to attack. Blossomstar took up a position next to Rushstar's body, claws unsheathed ad teeth bared. Wolf ad Huron stood side to side, crouched down and coiled to strike. In a moment, the ginger tom chose and launched at Wolf. She retaliated, ending up on top of him, claws ready to sink into his throat.  
With a flash, Blossomstar was reminded of an almost similar scene. She had been watching Thunderwing –Thunderpaw then- and his late mentor Redwood battle train. Thunderpaw had ended up on top of his mentor, teeth bared in a mock-snarl, paw on his chest. The young deputy Blossomstep had purred, and her apprentice Twopaw had tugged on her tail.  
"Come on!" She mewed.  
Blossomstep had spared another look, seeing Thunderpaw on top of Redwood once again.  
Thrust back to reality, Blossomstar looked at Wolf. Apprentice aged, the russet shecat was all fury. But under that fury, Blossomstar saw the subtle things. The way Wolf held her paws and tail was entirely Thunderwing. The way she bent her legs and how she held her head was pure Twostep. Her lean body she shared with Wishpaw.  
With a start, Blossomstar saw. This was Wolfkit, Thunderwing and Twostep's lost kit.  
Wolf prepared to dig her claws into the ginger tom's neck, when a screech across the clearing caught her attention.  
"Ma!" Wolf screeched, flying across the clearing. In a second, the brown tom she had pounced on was dead. With a cry, Wolf leapt over to a light cream shecat and thrust her nose into her fur.  
"Ma," the strangled sob escaped Wolf's mouth. The cream shecat was absolutely still, eyes seeing where no living cat could. Blood stained her pelt, having originated from a wound in her neck.  
Huron scrambled over to Wolf.  
"Keep your head in the battle!" He yowled to her, but the russet shecat ignored him. With a start, Huron noticed the battle was over. The North cats had retreated, and the Clan cats were left to lick their wounds and grieve for their fallen Clanmates.  
"Noo!" a screech rent the air. Fireclaws crouched over the still form of Grasspool. "You monsters!" She aimed the barb at Huron.  
Huron took a step back, face shocked. "But-"  
Wolf stalked over to Fireclaws. "Us?" She snarled. "I lost my mother today because I wanted to warn you about The Dragon. If the Clans weren't here to harass, she would still be alive!"  
"Wolf," The form of Blossomstar padded over to the snarling russet shecat. "Please, come with me. I need to talk to you."  
"No you don't! And I don't need to do anything with you! This is all your fault!" Wolf turned and began the run away.  
"Wolf, she wasn't your mother!" Blossomstar yowled.  
Wolf stopped cold. "Then who was?" She hissed.  
"A warrior of my Clan." Blossomstar explained. "You were taken from us at barely two moons old by MistClan, and something happened to end up with her finding you."  
"No!" Wolf shook her head. "You lie!" She hissed.  
"Look inside yourself. You know the truth." Blossomstar encouraged.  
"No…" Wolf murmured. "She wouldn't have lied…" She collapsed, and Blossomstar padded over to her and licked her head. Cats had gathered around to watch the exchange. Twostep, Thuderwing, and Wishpaw cuddled together, eyes wide.  
Wolf nuzzled into Blossomstar's fur, and Blossomstar stood, her gaze landing on Twostep, her eyes saying 'Help me! I'm not a mom!'.  
Twostep hesitantly padded over, and began to groom Wolf's fur. The cats dispersed, gathering up their fallen, helping their wounded, and preparing to leave.  
"Come with us back to our camp. We'll give her a warrior's burial." Twostep mewed.  
"Her name is Pale," Wolf meowed.  
"Who will take care of the enemy dead?" Maskedstar yowled out.  
"My Clan will," Whitestar mewed. He beckoned with his tail for Frostbreeze to join the leaders. Tentatively, the BrookClan deputy joined them.  
"We need to meet soon," Whitestar said. "Huron, you get over here too."  
Shrugging, Huron padded over.  
"Since you have the most experience dealing with non-Clan cats, can you tell us who these cats were? You will also need to attend the meeting soon."  
"My best guess is that it was the North cats that attacked us," Huron mewed. "They've always been jealous of the Clans, and I recognized the tom that… er… did… er… Killed her," He flicked his tail to Rushstar's body. "I think his name is Koret."  
"Okay," Whitestar nodded. "When do you think we should meet?"  
"Day after tomorrow at least," Frostbreeze mewed. I need to get my lives and name."  
"Anytime," Huron shrugged.  
"Day after tomorrow for RabbitClan, too," Maskedstar replied.  
"So long as it's not tomorrow, any time is fine," Blossomstar meowed.  
"Day after tomorrow, then," Whitestar nodded. "Bring only your deputies and medicine cats. Huron, you just bring the cat that knows most about herbs and the cat you would have as your deputy."  
"Umm… Okay. That'll be Lore and Wolf." Huron mewed.  
"Wolf? She's only apprentice aged! And she'll need to recover from… things," Blossomstar mewed.  
"Okay, then, I'll bring Lore and Tangle." Huron replied.  
"Day after tomorrow, then?" Maskedstar asked.  
The collected leaders and Huron nodded, then dispersed to their Clans.  
Blossomstar padded up to Huron. "I'm bringing Wolf back to my camp with me. She needs to recover."  
Huron nodded. "See you day after tomorrow."

The following cats were killed in what will be known in future moons as the North's Blood Taste.  
Rushstar of BrookClan  
Riverpaw of BrookClan  
Grasspool of RabbitClan  
Heatherpelt of RabbitClan  
Paintedflower of RabbitClan  
Frostwhiskers of MistClan  
Frogpaw of MistClan  
Brightbracken of StormClan  
Pale, a loner  
Chicken, a North cat

Chapter Five:

Wolf trailed behind the StormClan patrol, tail dragging in the dirt as Twostep kept nuzzling her and whispering comforting words into her ear. She was numb. Not only did she witness the death of the only cat she called family, but she had killed a cat and found out that Pale had lied to her.  
The two apprentices were carrying the bodies of the fallen cats. Wishpaw was carrying Pale, Fallenpaw carrying Brightbracken.  
Thunderwing and Blossomstar padded at the front, heads down. Crystalfern wove around the cats, licking wounds and murmuring encouragement.  
Soon, the patrol entered camp just as the sun rose. Blossomstar waved Crystalfern away with her tail, and jumped on her branch.  
"Let all cats old enough to note the changes of the leaves, gather here beneath the Skytree for a Clan meeting!"  
The StormClan cats trickled out of the dens. Sneezepaw and Crystalfern dashed around, applying poultices and cobwebbing wounds.  
"Today, we were attacked at the Gathering. A band of rogues known as the North cats came, and left death in their wake. They slayed many noble warriors and apprentices, including one of our own."  
"Then why are there two bodies?" Eclipsedsun asked.  
"Because one of them is the body of one of the loners who tried to warn us of The Dragon and the North cats. Her foster daughter is here with us," Blossomstar replied.  
"Why did you let a rogue into our camp?!" Glowmoon exclaimed.  
"Wolf is not just any rogue. She is the daughter of Thunderwing and Twostep." Blossomstar proclaimed.  
Wolf gasped. What the-? She was the daughter of the shecat who had been helping her?  
Twostep purred. "I knew it," And she nuzzled Wolf's fur.  
Thunderwing padded over to Wolf and Twostep. "Welcome back," He meowed.  
Wishpaw was incredulous. Her sister was back! For reals! She had occasionally seen Astralpaw at Gatherings, but he was curt with her and didn't know she was his sister. But this!  
"Also…"  
"Fallenpaw, last night in the battle you moved with speed and accuracy and I am sure your mentors would agree with me that you are ready. So by the powers invested in me by StarClan, I, Blossomstar, leader of StormClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to watch over this young cat. She has trained in the ways of your noble code and I commend her to you as a warrior. Fallenpaw, do you swear to guard this Clan with your life, and live by the code of the Warriors?"  
"I do!" Fallenpaw's voice was strong and sure.  
"Then I name you Fallenbird. StarClan honors your ferocity and determination, and welcomes you as a full warrior of the Clan."  
She jumped down and licked Fallenbird's forehead. The new warrior licked her leader's shoulder.  
"Fallenbird! Fallenbird!"  
"Get some sleep. You'll keep vigil tonight," Blossomstar whispered.  
Wolf watched as the Clan cheered. Twostep sat by her, looking at Thunderwing and Wishpaw. Various members of the Clan approached Wolf and asked if she remembered them, and Wolf just wanted to go cower in her den. She remembered some random names, like Astralkit and Northwind.  
"Enough!" Twostep said, and nudged Wolf to her feet. "Come on," She said, and began nudging Wolf to a secluded corner of camp where she could get adjusted to things.  
"They're not always this overwhelming, I think," Twostep mewed.

A dark russet shecat approached a large ginger tom.  
"Well, Koret, I trust you did well?" She asked.  
"We did," Koret dipped his head. "But, Red, we lost Chicken."  
"We will mourn for him. But we must not lose sight of our goal!" Red replied.  
Koret nodded. "And how were our kits?"  
"They were impatient for daddy to return, but now that you're back they'll be overjoyed." As if on cue, three bundles of energy barreled out of an overturned box and ran into Koret.  
A dark ginger shecat looked up at her father with big amber eyes.  
"You took long enough!" Enigma mewed.  
"I had to make sure everything happened as it should have," Koret explained. Turning to Red, he told her "I think the Clans got the idea."

Wolf lay curled up in a soft mossy nest. She was mulling over thoughts in her head. She had been given a nest to sleep in amongst the apprentices who currently only consisted of Wishpaw. Her sister was out on apprentice duties, ad Wolf felt like she had to be doing something. This not doing anything bored her, but she felt awkward and out of place among the other cats. While she had been with Pale, she had never not been doing anything. There was always something to do.  
The cats relatively left her alone, and Wolf enjoyed that.

"We'll be at the Startree soon, Frostbreeze," Raindrop mewed. Unusually, Frostbreeze had brought more than just his medicine cat. He had also chosen Stormysky and Cloudfall to accompany them in case of an attack by the North cats.  
Raindrop had been correct in his calculations. Deputy and medicine cat left the warriors guarding the entrance to the hollow roots and entered. No light penetrated the thick roots until the moon came to hang directly over the tree. With a flash, streaks of light flew from the pool of water in the middle of the root cave.  
"Touch your nose to the water," Raindrop instructed.  
Doing as bidden, the white tom touched his nose to the water. In an instant, he was submerged with the feeling of cold. After a few moments of the cold, he woke in a starry hollow, surrounded by starry felines. Most prominent were Rushstar, Jadeeyes, and Riverpaw, although there were still others.  
"Welcome, Frostbreeze," a starry black tom mewed. "Are you ready?"  
"Y-yes," Frostbreeze stammered.  
With that, a light brown tom stepped forward.  
"I am Runningriver, your father." The brown tom explained. "And with this life, I give you heart. Use it to know what you need to do, and what is right and what is wrong."  
Father and son touched noses, and Frostbreeze felt a surge of power that almost knocked him off his feet. Soon, a white shecat stepped forward.  
"I am Brightflower, your mother. With this life I give you love. Use it to protect all the cats in your care, which includes cats from all the Clans and even the District." Brightflower touched noses with her son, and Frostbreeze felt a blaze of warm fire that flooded through him to end in a flash so hot that he shivered, panting.  
Jadeeyes stepped forward.  
"With this life I give you wisdom. Use it to guide your Clan through all trials." As they touched noses, Frostbreeze felt the pressing of ages on him and the burden of wisdom.  
The slight form of Riverpaw stepped forward.  
"With this life I give you courage. Use it to stand up to any enemy of the Clan." She touched noses with him, and Frostbreeze felt the blaze of strength that was courage.  
A small light brown tom stepped forward.  
"I am Featherdrift, a close friend of your father. With this life, I give you strength. Use it to fight any cat that would hurt your friends and family." Frostbreeze felt raw power surge through him and his legs shook with the burden.  
A silver kit padded forward. "I'm Snowkit, your brother. With this life I give you self-sacrifice. Use it when your Clan needs it the most." Frostbreeze felt the pain of death then the strength of knowing that his Clan was safe.  
A brown kit stepped forward. "I am Wingkit, your sister. With this life I give you compassion. Use it to watch over your Clan in times of need." They touched noses, and Frostbreeze thought this would be a gentle life, but when it hit him with the strength of fierce emotion that was compassion, he nearly fell over.  
Wingkit was replaced by a silver shecat. "I am Moondancer, your mother's mother. With this life I give you determination. Use it to persevere in even the toughest of times." Frostbreeze was shocked by the dull fire that was determination when it began to burn in his veins.  
Rushstar approached the white tom who was waiting to receive his final life.  
"With this life I give you loyalty to the Code. Use it to lead with nobility." Frostbreeze felt his fierce loyalty to the code strengthened tenfold, and the burning ice of the need to follow it.  
The original starry black tom stepped forward.  
"By the power invested in me by the first Code, I, Brookstar, founder of BrookClan, do name you Froststar, leader of BrookClan! Guide our Clan with the courage I know you have, and accept your destiny with nobility, for you are allies with a living legend!"  
The cats of StarClan faded away, and Froststar woke with a start to the dark hollow. He and Raindrop walked out, silently in rhythm.

Chapter Six:

Blossomstar, Thunderwing, and Crystalfern padded along the well worn path to Northrock. Tonight was the night that they were coming to discuss the threat of the North cats. Blossomstar was apprehensive. What if Huron and the loners really were in league with the North cats? What if this was a trap?  
"I don't think it is a trap," Thunderwing told Blossomstar, reading her mind. "It just doesn't feel like a trap."  
Blossomstar shook her head. "I don't know how you do it."  
"A cat has to have his secrets," Thunderwing mewed.

Whitestar, Aspenring, and Battooth waited on Northrock. They watched as Maskedstar, Juniperbranch, and Stormwind padded forth.  
"He your new deputy?" Aspenring flicked his tail to Juniperbranch.  
Maskedstar nodded.  
"Good choice," Battooth mewed.  
Maskedstar nodded.  
Froststar entered the clearing, followed by Raindrop and Dripcloud.  
"You chose her?" Maskedstar asked.  
"Yes I did," Froststar replied.  
Huron, a brown shecat with a white chest, and a black tom entered the clearing.  
"This is Lore," Huron pointed with his tail to the brown shecat. "And this is Tangle," he pointed to the black tom.  
"Well met," Whitestar dipped his head. Lore twitched her whiskers, and Tangle twitched his tail.  
Blossomstar and her patrol entered.  
"Last ones, I see," Lore mewed.  
Blossomstar nodded.  
"Let's start," Maskedstar mewed.  
"Ditto," Froststar agreed.  
The groups moved together, cats sitting in a loose ring.  
"So, first things first, the fact that the battle at the Gathering left some Clans a little short on warriors. If the North cats decide to attack those Clans, they would be in trouble. I know my Clan needs more warriors," Maskedstar mewed.  
"MistClan has plenty of warriors and apprentices. Perhaps we could spread some of them to your Clans?" Whitestar suggested.  
"Better yet," Huron mewed, "Some of my cats could group with your Clans."  
The Clan cats cocked their ears.  
"I could send Jay and Song to RabbitClan, Tangle and Facet to BrookClan, and Lore and I could go to StormClan." Huron mewed.  
"What about my Clan?" Whitestar asked.  
"You said you had plenty of warriors," Huron mewed.  
Grumbling, Whitestar settled back down.  
"So, now then, what do you know about the North cats?" Blossomstar asked.  
"Not much, other than apparently they have a vendetta against the Clans. I do know The Dragon is in league with them, and still around the Clans. I'd name him a kill on sight." Huron mewed.  
"But that's… That's bestial!" Whitestar exclaimed.  
"So was you stealing kits," Blossomstar mewed. "And besides, this is war."  
"Well put," Lore mewed.  
Whitestar grumbled again.  
"So, now that we know that, can we go? I'm freezing my tail off," Tangle meowed.

Not even a day after the meeting, the North cats struck. They aimed straight for the kits.  
"Intruders!" Houndhowl yowled. "Cats on the moor!"  
The RabbitClan cats scrambled to their positions. Moments later, North cats broke in. A group of them sprinted straight towards the nursery. Cats screeched. In moments it was over. Two cats lay dead, several severely injured, all bleeding. None of the kits had been harmed physically, but three of them crouched next to the still form of their mother, eyes wide with disbelief and pain. Galewinds stood near them, eyes bright with despair. Fawnleap's body lay still, and the cats mourned. Houndhowl was severely injured, enough to need to retire from warrior duties. A silver tabby from the opposing force lay unmoving as well.  
"No…" A moan escaped Maskedstar's jaw. A gash on his neck leaked blood, and the old leader had lost a life. He was on nearly his last one. Shaking his head, he muttered to himself.  
"Let all cats old enough to chase rabbits, gather here for a Clan meeting."  
The ravaged Clan gathered.  
"This should have been a happy day, but now it is a sad day. Dewpaw, Fawnleap had spoken with me and proclaimed you ready. So, do you promise to defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life, and to follow the Code with all that you are?"  
"I do." Dewpaw's mew was heavy with sadness.  
"Then I name you Dewlight! StarClan honors your courage and kindness, and welcomes you as a full warrior of RabbitClan!" He jumped down and licked her forehead, and she licked his shoulder.  
"Dewlight! Dewlight! Dewlight!" The Clan cheered.

The next place the North cats struck was BrookClan. They were swift, and the BrookClan cats fought back ferociously, but even still they obtained losses. Cats dead, kits stolen and injured. Rainkit sat, a gash over her eye, while Mossclaw comforted her. Whisperkit had been taken away, and she was gone. Wildriver stood with his family, head bowed. Nightpaw lay still as Raindrop tended to his wounds. Pebblefoot lay unmoving, limbs at weird angles.  
Froststar bowed his head. "StarClan, please. Why are you doing this to us?"

MistClan was ready when the North Cats attacked. Astralpaw called out the warning, and Burningbranch and Emberlight rushed over to the nursery. Gloryflame and Stonelight were posted in front of Battooth's den.  
"Couldn't the kits wait?!" Kinkytail screeched.  
Mockingbird shook her head. "Kits come when they come."  
Thornkit, Bramblekit, and Horsekit watched Kinkytail with wide eyes.  
"Is she making more of us?" Bramblekit asked innocently, her amber eyes shining.  
"Kits, get in our nest now," Mockingbird ordered them, and her offspring scrambled into their nest.  
Outside the nursery, everything was chaotic and adrenaline-filled. A white tom crashed into Foxtail, and he sunk his teeth into the white tom's shoulder. Half-foot and Fernwhisker fought side by side, blow matching blow upon a pair of dark brown toms. A tabby ad white shecat fought viciously as apprentice after apprentice pestered her with claws and teeth.  
"Behind you!" Sandfur yowled to Firnose, and the dark brown shecat ducked, a large ginger tom flying over her head.  
The two shecats faced him, hissing.  
"Your Clan has better spirit than the last ones we fought, I'll grant you that!" he hissed, tail lashing.  
"Oh, and which Clans were those?" Firnose asked, stalling.  
"The pathetic stream and moor ones, those ones!" the tom snarled, and shrieked as Sandfur lunged at him.  
"It's over, you lost!" Sandfur hissed, gashing his flank.  
The tom looked around, seeing his cats fleeing from the MistClan camp. Gasping, he fled with them, tail between his legs.  
Whitestar looked at his Clan with pride, and then leaped onto his rock.  
"Let all cats who stalk as the mist, gather here beneath the Great Stone for a Clan meeting!" he called.  
His Clanmates all gathered below him, murmuring.  
"We are very lucky today. First off, we won the battle without casualties! Battooth is currently treating our injured warriors. Secondly, Kinkytail has given birth to four healthy kits! Give a warm welcome to Mudkit, Thrushkit, Sunkit, and Fatekit!"  
The Clan cheered excitedly.  
"And last off…" Whitestar paused. "Snakepaw, Pinepaw, Nightpaw. Please step forward."  
The three apprentices approached the Great Stone, murmuring apprehensively.  
"Snakepaw, today you fought with great honor and ferocity. Do you swear to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I do," The black tom's voice rang out.  
"Then by the powers vested in me by StarClan, I name you Snakethorn! StarClan honors your honor and dignity, and welcome you as a full warrior of MistClan. Pinepaw, do you promise to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I do," Pinepaw's voice shook with excitement.  
"Then by the powers invested in me by StarClan, I name you Pinewing! StarClan honors you intelligence and might, and welcome you as a full warrior of MistClan. Nightpaw, do you vow to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I do!" The black shecat's voice cracked.  
"Then by the powers granted to me by StarClan, I name you Nightwind! StarClan honors your thoughtfulness and ferocity, and welcome you as a full warrior of MistClan."  
"Snakethorn! Pinewing! Nightwind!" The Clan chanted the new warriors' name, and they shone with pride as they took their spots for the vigil.  
Battooth looked at them. "I can only hope that the prophecy is wrong. I can only hope she won't destroy our Clan," he murmured to himself

Chapter Seven:

Wolf shivered. The leafbare cold penetrated her pelt, and she curled up tighter, trying to conserve heat. She listened to Wishpaw's steady breathing, wondering how Wishpaw had grown up. Wolf almost wished she could've been left, but then caught herself. She had two mothers! She was probably the luckiest cat in the Clans, knowing two mothers.  
She startled, hearing Wishpaw stand up. She lifted her head and looked at the white shecat.  
"Where are you going?" Wolf asked.  
Wishpaw turned around. "To the dirtplace."  
Wolf twitched her ear as the lie slid easily out of her sister's mouth. She nestled back in her nest, letting her sister go.  
Wishpaw slid out of the den, and Wolf finally drifted off to sleep.

Wishpaw paused next to the tree, sniffing around. Her nightly extrusions around the territory, practicing battle and hunting at night, had exhausted her, but it was worth it. She could accurately navigate the entirety of her Clan's territory with her eyes closed.  
Ears perked, she began to trot through the woods, tail held erect. Hearing the hoot of an owl, Wishpaw decided to head back. Owls could easily kill apprentices.

Astralpaw's ears twitched as he heard an owl hoot in the distance, thinking of what had happened at the Gathering yet again. The russet shecat… what's her name… Wolf. He had recognized her scent, and not from just randomly stumbling on it in his territory, no. The memory was older than that.  
Twitching his tail, he got up, knowing Emberlight liked him up early. He padded out, dipping his head to the three who sat vigil. Emberlight was already waiting for him next to the fresh kill pile.  
"Let's go see if we can go find some prey, eh?" She asked, padding over to her apprentice.  
"Sure," Astralpaw shrugged, following his mentor.

Tristan, Enigma, and Shadow rolled over together in the sun. Koret and Red watched them, looks of pride on their faces. The North cats were waiting, waiting to regain their strength before continuing their attacks. The only Clan they hadn't specifically attacked was StormClan. The Clan of bravery, love, and the oak trees.  
Enigma squeaked, and Red padded over to pry Tristan off her.

Wolf padded out of the apprentice's den, and sat down outside it to lick the scraps of moss off it. Her ear twitched as she felt Blossomstar's gaze on her, and she looked over at the brown and white shecat.  
Blinking as Sharptooth padded over to Blossomstar, Wolf looked away. Finishing her wash, she stood up, startling as she heard a cry from the nursery.  
Crystalfern and Sneezepaw dashed over to it, entering. Wolf's ears perked, wondering who was having kits. At least, she thought kits were happening. Might just be a kit stepping on a thorn.  
While Fallenbird's kits were being born, Blossomstar watched Wolf, thinking, remembering. As Blossomstep, she watched and waited as Twopaw sat outside the apprentice's den, washing her pelt. Crystalfern -Crystalpaw- had padded over to Twopaw. As she had sat down, Pumaside's angry voice had called out from his den.  
Blossomstar was startled out of her memories by Crystalfern's paw in her side.  
"Fallenbird has two kits- a tom and a shecat," Crystalfern told her leader.  
Blossomstar nodded.  
"Have you asked her yet?" Crystalfern asked.  
"No," Blossomstar replied. "I'm waiting for her to approach me."  
Crystalfern looked at the camp entrance as Lore and Huron brought prey into camp. The two loners had helped a lot, seeming to know exactly where the prey hid. They put their prey on the fresh kill pile, then separated, Huron padding over to Thunderwing and Twostep, Lore padding over to Sneezepaw.  
"Looks like Sneezepaw has competition as medicine cat apprentice," Blossomstar chuckled.  
Crystalfern nodded. "Lore's really intelligent. It makes me wish I could have two apprentices!"  
Blossomstar smiled.

Maskedstar padded along the border his Clan shared with StormClan. Pausing to mark it, he sniffed the air, pelt bristling. He smelled a strange cat, and whirled around as a ginger tom barreled out of the trees. Getting pinned, Maskedstar snarled as the tom plunged his jaws into his neck. The world faded before him, and he woke up surrounded by starry-pelted cats.  
"Rest, as always. Take a moment to recover," a wiry yellow shecat told him.  
Maskedstar looked over at Rabbitstar. "And spare that cat the joy of being killed by me?"  
Rabbitstar rolled her eyes, and Maskedstar faded back into life.  
The ginger tom's face was close to Maskedstar's.  
"Greet the calico for me," he hissed, and Maskedstar lost his final life.

As Moonshine, Wishpaw, and Wolf approached the RabbitClan border, they froze in their tracks. The scent of blood permeated the air.  
"Who is it?" Wishpaw asked.  
Moonshine cautiously padded forward.  
"It's Maskedstar," she gasped.  
Wishpaw followed, and Wolf came slowly, looking over her shoulder.  
"We need to let his Clan know," Wishpaw said.  
Moonshine nodded.  
"The Dragon," Wolf said. "He was the most recent cat here."  
Moonshine shrugged, smelling the scent of a rogue, and picked up Maskedstar's body. The trio headed forward towards the heart of the moor.  
Wolf's fur twitched. She was uncomfortable here, to say the least.  
The StormClanners were met by a RabbitClan patrol.  
"What happened?" Tigerleap asked, claws unsheathed and teeth bared.  
"We found his body on our border. We figure he was killed by The Dragon," Moonshine explained.  
"You mean Wolf knew his scent," Wishpaw put in.  
Moonshine nodded. "Yes, Wolf knew he was killed by The Dragon. She could smell his scent."  
"And there's ginger fur between his claws," Wolf explained. "Koret's the only other ginger tom that's our enemy."  
"But how? He had five lives left!" Dewlight exclaimed.  
"Didn't you know? He only had two," Wolf replied.  
"What?" Dewlight exclaimed. "How do you know that?"  
Wolf shrugged, looking puzzled. "I… I guess I heard it somewhere."  
Tigerleap shrugged.  
"We'll take him from here," Dewlight said, stepping forward to take the body of her leader.  
Moonshine nodded, and turned the two sisters around, and they headed back for StormClan territory.

"Crystalfern, can I talk to you?" Moonshine slipped into Crystalfern's den.  
Crystalfern nodded. "Sneezepaw, we need catmint. Go check, see if there's some."  
"But it's the middle of leafbare!" Sneezepaw exclaimed.  
"Now," Crystalfern ordered.  
Sneezepaw scurried away.  
"I believe you're here to ask about Wolf's uncanny ability?" Crystalfern asked.  
"How did she know that Maskedstar had two lives when we thought we had four?" Moonshine asked.  
"Do you know about the Legend of the Flame?" Crystalfern asked.  
"Yes…" Moonshine replied.  
"Do you know the exact wording of the Prophecy?" Crystalfern asked.  
"Um…" Moonshine trailed off.  
"Well, I'll tell you.  
'_Torn from birth  
Left in the fall  
The Flame is lit  
It must answer the Call  
Whether by the Cold  
Or the Pine  
The Clans shall fall  
Cats in their battle line  
Will fight cats  
And she, one of battle and peace,  
One of vision beyond vision,  
Shall bend them to their knees._'"  
While speaking the Prophecy, Crystalfern's voice had grown deep.  
"Do you see now? Do you really see? My dear friend Twostep, she gave birth to the Flame. She brought the cat whom shall save the Clans into this world. Don't you see? We are allies with a legend!" Crystalfern exclaimed.  
"But which one? Tell me!" Moonshine implored.  
"I think you already know." As she said that, the russet shecat appeared in her mind, her green eyes burning like fire.


	2. Part Two

Chapter Eight:

Juniperbranch's breathing was ragged.  
"Don't worry," Stormwind comforted the light brown tom. "It'll go fine."  
Juniperbranch nodded, and padded towards the shining pond.  
"I'll be right here," Stormwind told him.  
Swallowing his fear, Juniperbranch pressed his muzzle to the water.  
The world faded, and Juniperbranch felt like his pelt would be frozen off. He tried to shiver, then realized he had no body! Moments later, he woke up to see himself surrounded by starry cats.  
A wiry yellow shecat spoke.  
"Welcome, Juniperbranch. Are you ready?"  
Juniperbranch nodded, almost imperceptibly.  
His eyes widened as he saw Grasspool step forward.  
"With this life I give you energy. Use it to keep pace with you Clan in times of turmoil." She touched noses with him, and he felt a jolt and then felt as though he could be at his den in moments.  
Heatherpelt padded forward as Grasspool retreated, her green eyes twinkling.  
"With this life I give you cunning. Use it to know how to lead your Clan to success." They touched noses, and Juniperbranch felt the shady, speedy, intelligent feeling that was cunning.  
Heatherpelt was replaced by Paintedflower, whose calico ear twitched at her friend.  
"With this life I give you leadership. Use it to make the right choices and to guide your Clan in these dark times ahead." They touched noses, and Juniperbranch shivered as he felt the certainty of his decisions solidify the ground under his feet.  
Runningriver stepped forward, and stood before Juniperbranch.  
"With this life I give you love. Use it with all your heart." And he touched noses.  
Juniperbrach felt a flare, and saw the cats of his Clan in quick succession and felt a surge of extreme emotion towards them.  
Featherdrift took Runningriver's place.  
"With this life I give you passion. Use it to fight with conviction for whatever you believe in." They touched noses, and he felt a wave of emotion that almost knocked him off his paws.  
Fawnleap stepped forward.  
"With this life I give you endurance. Use it to fight the endless battle that is to come," and she touched noses with him, and he felt the slow-burning fire of endurance.  
Brightlight took Fawnleap's place.  
"With this life I give you direction. Use it when you need to leave," Brightlight touched her nose to his nose.  
Juniperbranch saw places flashing by, places that were alien and unfamiliar. He was jolted out of his vision as a black shecat padded forward.  
"My son, it is good to see you again," She said.  
"Secretwhisper!" He gasped.  
"With this life I give you insight. Use it to anticipate how the enemy will react." She touched noses with him, and Juniperbranch felt an intense wisdom.  
Maskedstar took Secretwhisper's place.  
"With this life I give you vision. Use it to seek the help you need." They touched noses, and Juniperbranch went numb before regaining feeling.  
The yellow shecat stepped forward.  
"By the power invested in me by the first Code, I, Rabbitstar, founder of RabbitClan, do name you Juniperstar, leader of RabbitClan! Guide our Clan with the cunning I know you have, and accept the part you play in the survival of the Clans, for the legend is coming to pass."  
Juniperstar's sight faded to black.

"Drive them out!" Blossomstar screeched as cats rushed into the camp.  
Thunderwing was near Wolf, and ran over to her.  
"Go to MistClan, get help," He ordered, and without looking back, Wolf sprinted away.  
She sped through the oak trees, dodging fallen branches and leaping ancient logs. Pausing at the Thunderpath, she darted across it's sticky surface, then almost flew over the ground that was littered with pine needles.  
She burst into the MistClan camp, startling Whitestar.  
"What are you doing?" He nearly yowled.  
"North cats. StormClan camp. Too many," Wolf replied, then promptly fell over, exhausted.  
Whitestar flicked his tail at a group of cats, ready to go out on a patrol.  
"You lot, come with me!" He bent down to Wolf. "You can stay here. Rest, you won't be much use to StormClan if you're a limp noodle." He bent back up. "Aspenring, when she's less tired, round up a second patrol and come after us." Whitestar darted out of his camp.  
Astralpaw's legs kept pace with Whitestar's as they sprinted towards the StormClan camp. They barely paused at the Thunderpath, then continued on. Soon they burst into the camp, tackling the North cats nearest the entrance.  
Lionroar snartled in a black tom's face while Burningbranch slashed a silver tabby shecat. Emberlight battle a grey cat while Astralpaw helped Wishpaw fight off a burly black and white tom. Whitestar burst onto a tan tom, felling him in one blow.  
The battle raged on, as cat fought cat. While the tide had been in the Clan's favor for a moment, now it shifted towards the North cats. But then again, as the battle cry of MistClan rang out and fresh cats streamed into the hollow, the North cats began to falter.  
Wolf fought side-by-side with Astralpaw and Wishpaw, slashing. Aspenring helped Twostep fend off a tom trying to get in the nursery, while Pinewing and Nightwind were raging like fury.  
Soon the North cats retreated, and the broken Clan was left to put itself back together.  
Limping over to Whitestar, Blossomstar dipped her head.  
"My Clan owes you our survival," she murmured.  
Whitestar nodded. "We are allies; it is only right."  
Blossomstar smiled.  
"MistClan, let's return to our camp!" Whitestar called, and the MistClan cats withdrew.  
Fallenbird peered outside the nursery, then shrieked and rushed over to where Eclipsedsun lay dead. The Clan mourned, and lives were shattered.  
Blossomstar climbed onto the Skytree, and looked over her Clan.  
"Let all cats old enough to note the changes of the leaves, gather here beneath the Skytree for a Clan meeting!" Blossomstar called.  
Looking out over the fractured Clan, Blossomstar took a deep breath.  
"I won't lie to you. I am on my last life now," Blossomstar said. "But while today shattered us, we must begin to rebuild, and I can think of no better way to do that than to begin the training of new apprentices. Skykit, Maplekit, and Goldenkit. Step forward."  
The three kits started shifting with excitement, and bounded forward.  
"Skykit, you will now be known as Skypaw. I shall mentor you myself. Maplekit, you shall be known as Maplepaw. You shall train under Thunderwing. Goldenkit, you shall be known as Goldenpaw. You shall train under Twostep."  
"Skypaw! Maplepaw! Goldenpaw!" The Clan chanted.  
Twostep padded over to Goldenpaw.  
"We need to start your training," she told her apprentice. Turning towards Wolf, she beckoned her russet daughter over with her tail. "You need to get moving again," Twostep told her daughter. "You can help me with Goldenpaw."  
Wolf trotted over, stopping beside Goldenpaw.  
"We'll start with borders," Twostep said. 'Follow me," she started to walk out of the camp, followed by Wolf and Goldenpaw.

Pinewing trotted next to Nightwind and Snakethorn. Her black tail was arched high in the air as she patrolled the territory next to her littermates. MistClan was prospering, compared to the other Clans. Pinewing honestly didn't know why Whitestar insisted on helping the other Clans when they could step in, take control. It's what Pinewing would have done in his place.  
"What'cha thinking 'bout, Pinewing?" Snakethorn asked.  
"Oh, nothing," Pinewing replied.  
Snakethorn shrugged. Whatever, he thought, padding along  
Nightwind kept sniffing around the pine forest, ears perked and tail twitching. Her eyes were wide open, looking everywhere.  
"I think I smell North cats…" She muttered.  
Snakethorn shivered. "Fox dung… I do too…"  
Pinewing did a three sixty, looking around. "Reveal yourself!" She barked out.  
"Kill them," a voice spoke.  
Cats surged forward, overwhelming the three warriors. A white paw struck down Snakethorn, and Nightwind and Pinewing ended up fighting side by side. With a screech, a ginger tom caught Nightwind's throat in his jaws, and seeing an opening, Pinewing darted between the cats, sprinting in the direction of BrookClan. Hearing cats tearing after her, she amped up the speed. Her paws thundered over the ground as she ran for her life.  
With a shriek, a brow tabby tom cut her off.  
"The name's Rak," he hissed. "And you get the honor of being killed by the Beta of the North cats." He laughed, and lunging, brought a paw down on Pinewing's head, and all went black for the amber-eyed shecat.  
"Come on, boys. We're done with this toy," Rak laughed, and a dark brown tom and a light grey tom fell in behind him.  
"Now we can finally defeat that one Clan, and the Clans will have no more fighting for!" the grey tom hissed.  
"Exactly, Gallow," Rak smiled.  
"Let's go!" Cried the dark brown tom.  
"Good idea, Flake." Rak growled, and launched into a sprint.  
Flake and Gallow followed behind Rak, running at top speed to catch up with Koret and his patrol.

The ginger tom stood in front of his cats.  
"Remember, this battle is the turning point. We lose to them again, our cause will fail. Our kits will be hunted down and killed."  
Shecats shifted, murmuring in fear for the kits they left with Red and her kits at their camp.  
"So cats of the North… to Battle!"  
As one, the body of the North cats surged forward, up onto the slight hill that held the MistClan camp.

Chapter Nine:

All was chaos.  
Astralpaw could barely tell what was happening to him. One moment, everything was all peaceful, then boom. He was fighting for his life.  
A black and dark grey shecat pounced at Astralpaw, and with lightning-quick reflexes, he flung her away. In moments, he was side by side with Aspenring.  
"Go to the other Clans," Aspenring hissed. "StormClan first. Tell them we need help!"  
Astralpaw darted away from his camp, barreling over the Thunderpath and swimming frantically through the stream. Popping into StormClan camp, Blossomstar's ears twitched, and she instantly understood what was going on.  
"StormClan! To me!" She cried, and the StormClan cats rallied around her. Wolf's eyes burned with anger, Wishpaw growled in anxiety. Blossomstar plunged away from her camp, her cats following, and Astralpaw sprinted on. Leaping over the thin stream that separated RabbitClan from StormClan, he streaked across the moor, bursting through heather and trampling the grass. Flying into the RabbitClan camp, Galewinds was caught by surprise.  
"North cats! My camp! Too many, they'll overwhelm my Clan!" Astralpaw cried.  
Galewinds turned. "Come, RabbitClan! Let us take our chance to avenge Maskedstar!"  
His Clan gathered around him, then followed him out of the RabbitClan camp.  
Astralpaw sprinted out, crossing the Thunderpath again. He went as fast as he could through the marshy ground, paws squishing through it.

With a piercing scream, Wolf plunged up the slopes of the hill to MistClan's camp. She sunk her claws into a dark brown tom, flinging him away from Whitestar. A ginger shecat flung herself at Wolf, and Wolf gripped her claws on the shecat's shoulders.  
"You weren't happy enough with what you had, Asimov? You had to join these petty cowards?" Wolf hissed.  
"They're not cowards!" Asimov snarled.  
"Hah! Coulda fooled me," Wolf growled, and proceeded to sink her teeth into Asimov's neck.  
Flinging away the limp body of Asimov, Wolf plunged back into the battle, claws hooking into a silver tabby shecat.  
The shecat started running towards the edge of the camp, and stopped behind a pine tree with Wolf still on her back.  
"Wolf, you hafta help me!" She gasped.  
Wolf jumped off of the shecat's back. "Why do I have to do that, Prysetta?" Wolf asked.  
"The… the North cats… They took my kits, said they'd hurt them if I didn't work with them. It's only Thero and Guni, they're my only kits…" Prysetta looked imploringly at Wolf.  
"Fine," Wolf sighed.  
"It should be easy… It's only Red at the camp, and the kits…" Prysetta trailed off. "Oh. You don't know the way!" Prysetta took off through the pines, and Wolf followed.

Astralpaw plunged through the stream that marked the edge of BrookClan's camp. Shaking himself off, he hurried into their camp. Froststar and Cloudfall looked up from grooming each other.  
"There… Are…. North cats… My camp… Too many," Astralpaw panted.  
Froststar twitched an ear, then looked around.  
"Dripcloud, Wildriver, Stormysky! Minnoweye, Mossclaw, and Nightpaw, let's go!" Froststar stood up, Cloudfall rising with him.  
Astralpaw trotted over to the patrol, and Froststar led his cats out of the camp, picking up speed as they got farther away from the marshy inner lands of BrookClan territory.  
They swam across the border stream, coming out with ears perked. They could hear the sound of yowls coming from within the MistClan territory, and Astralpaw shivered. With a burst of speed, he raced ahead of the BrookClan cats, blowing through the sparse undergrowth of MistClan territory. Thrusting himself up the slope to his camp, he exploded into it and with a fierce battle yowl launched on a fawn-colored tom, digging his claws into his shoulders. The fawn tom twisted, sinking his teeth into Astralpaw's paw, and the latter raked the claws of his other paw down the tom's face.  
The fawn tom shrieked, and Astralpaw sunk the claws of his other paw into the tom's neck and then launching off of him, landing on a white tom that was preparing to sink his teeth into Wishpaw's neck. Biting the back of the white tom's neck, the white tom fell, screeching in pain, ad Wishpaw took the chance to sink her teeth into the tom's neck.  
Helping Wishpaw push the dead tom off her, the two littermates threw themselves back into the fray. Astralpaw's claws scored down the flank of a golden and white shecat, then the shecat was replaced by a dark brown tom. Wishpaw sunk her teeth into the shoulder of a light grey tom with black stripes, then he was replaced by a cinnamon tabby tom.  
Noticing Fogpaw struggling under a battle-scarred blue smoke shecat, the littermates darted over to him and helped knock the shecat off him. The three turned, and hissing, the shecat turned and fled.  
Suddenly Astralpaw was pinned under a large ginger tom, and he hissed as the tom shoved his paw into his windpipe.  
Astralpaw felt the tom jerk off him as Nightpaw pounced on his shoulders and Wishpaw shoved into the tom's flank.  
A hush fell on the battling cats as they saw another ginger tom with amber eyes poised over Whitestar, his jaws sunk into the MistClan leader's neck. The yellow-eyed tom struggled, but finally the inevitable came as Whitestar lost his remaining seven lives all at once and his eyes glazed over.  
A shriek came from the nursery as Sandfur, Whitestar's mate, noticed her beloved was dead. Pushed back by Mockingbird, the golden shecat protested.  
"You're expecting. Let me kill that snake-hearted no-good pile of fox sh*t for you and me," the light grey shecat growled. "He killed Aspenring, too."  
The Clans gasped. Both deputy and leader killed at the same time? The cats watched in silence as Mockingbird stalked forward, and the ginger tom eyed her, Whitestar's blood dripping from his mouth.  
"Little kitty wanna fight me, huh?" the tom jeered. "C'mon, see how you do against the Dragon."  
Mockingbird sped forward and like an explosion, the battle resumed. Twostep and Thunderwing fought back to back, claws slashing here and there and cutting cats down. Kinkytail, Sandfur, and Gloryflame protected the nursery, fighting like all of StarClan for the sake of the young. Duskpaw and Battooth fought with whatever fighting skills they could muster, but the elderly Battooth was growing tired and a stray paw cut the MistClan medicine cat down. Froststar took the fallen medicine cats place, fighting with all his nine lives against the cats that yearned to get to the precious healing supplies.

Wolf ad Prysetta had left Clan lands. Sprinting over springy grass, weaving through herds of cows and sheep and horses until Prysetta paused.  
Leaping onto the top rail of a fence, Prysetta pointed with her tail.  
"There's where the North cats stay. They also have a kit from the Clans, her name's Whisper. I know that two of Koret ad Red's kits don't like it here, either."  
"Great, more kits to carry," Wolf sighed.  
"Whisper's apprentice aged, and Enigma and Shadow are about five moons old." Prysetta explained.  
Wolf shrugged. "Let's get going again."  
Prysetta jumped off the fence, and the two shecats ran over to the camp of the North cats. It was a dilapidated old barn, and Wolf smelled lots of rotting hay.  
"Ready?" Prysetta whispered.  
"Ready!" Wolf whispered back, and the two shecats plunged into the dark building.  
Using scent, Wolf found the adult shecat with her claws. Hearing the scream, it was definitely adult. Wolf kept Red busy while Prysetta got the kits out, first taking Thero out, then grabbing Guni and motioning three kits out. Wolf brought her paw down on Red's head, knocking the shecat unconscious.  
Jumping off the unconscious Red, Wolf squeezed out of the barn. Picking up Thero, Wolf nodded to Prysetta and the two kit-carrying shecats and three following kits took off, pushing as fast as the three kits could go.

Suddenly the North cats were gone, and the battle-weary Clan cats sighed. There were cries of mourning, and sadness, and the cats felt near death.  
Sandfur stood over Mockingbird's dead body, licking the grey queen's fur into place. Thornpaw, Bramblepaw, and Horsepaw huddled together near their mother's body.  
Duskpaw stood over Battooth's body, crying sadly. Willowbranch and Burningbranch's bodies lay together, and Foxtail closed his eyes for the last time near his mate's body. A strangled cry came from Twostep and Wishpaw as they stood over Thunderwing's body. Fireclaws' head was bent over the still form of Tigerleap, and she murmured to her dead mate.  
"Our kits will be beautiful," Fireclaws sighed. Dripcloud, Wildriver, and Mossclaw lay near each other, still in death.  
Blossomstar pulled herself to her feet, looking tiredly around the Clans.  
"I shall make my announcement now, for all of the gathered Clans to hear. Moonshine is the new deputy of StormClan."  
The chosen shecat gasped. "Really?" she whispered.  
Blossomstar nodded and flopped back to the ground.  
A gasp came from the assembled Clans as an injured black warrior stumbled into the MistClan camp. Pinewing flopped on the ground, and let out a wail. "Snakethorn and Nightwind are dead!"  
The cats bowed their heads. Snakethorn and Nightwind had been good cats.  
Duskpaw stepped forward.  
"I am, being MistClan's most senior medicine cat, responsible for naming our next leader since both Whitestar and Aspenring are dead." Duskpaw paused, considering. "And I have chosen Emberlight to be our new leader."  
Emberlight gasped. "Wha-?" She was cut off by Duskpaw.  
"You need to choose a deputy," the grey medicine cat spoke softly.  
"I… I choose… I choose Gloryflame," The newly christened leader stammered out.  
"Gloryflame! Gloryflame!" The cats called out.  
Blossomstar looked around.  
"Well, I'm not one to break tradition, but since we seem to all be here currently… Wishpaw, step forward."  
The chosen apprentice stepped forward dumbfounded.  
"I, Blossomstar, leader of StormClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this young cat. She has learned the ways of your noble Code and in her turn I commend her to you as a warrior. Wishpaw, do you swear to protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I do!" Wishpaw squeaked out.  
"Then by the powers invested to me by StarClan, I name you Wishlight. StarClan honors your courage and devotion to the Code, and welcome you as a full warrior of StormClan."  
"Wishlight! Wishlight!" The Clans called out, the scents of Brook, Rabbit, Mist and Storm mingled on her that she seemed as though she was of all Clans.  
Emberlight stepped forward. "I suppose that a certain apprentice of my Clan deserves his own name as well. Astralpaw, forward."  
Astralpaw bounded forward, his pelt encrusted in blood but his purple-blue eyes shone with excitement.  
"I, Emberlight, leader of MistClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look over this young cat. He has trained in the ways of your noble Code, and I commend him to you as a warrior. Astralpaw, do you swear to protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I do." Astralpaw, formerly of StormClan, but now truly MistClan's voice rang out.  
"Then by the powers invested in me by StarClan, I name you Astralnight. StarClan honors your loyalty and bravery, and welcomes you as a full warrior of MistClan.  
The Clans chanted the two new warriors' names so loud, that as they were heading to the StormClan camp, Prysetta, Wolf, and the kits could hear them.

Chapter 10:

"You mean you were just helping a friend escape the tyranny of the North cats?" Blossomstar's eyes softened.  
Wolf shrugged, unsure what the word 'tyranny' meant.  
"Well, I'll send Wishlight to take Whisper back to BrookClan. I'm sure Rainpaw will be overjoyed."  
Whisper nodded, brimming with happiness at seeing her sister again.  
"And about Prysetta, she may stay with the Clan, she may join it, she may do whatever she wants- within limits," Blossomstar informed.  
"Yes, if it's okay with you, I would like to join the Clan. Just before my kits were born I was looking into joining the Clans, you see. I knew the North cats were threatening queens, taking their kits and threatening to harm them if they didn't cooperate." Prysetta explained.  
"Would you like you and your kits to take Clan names?" Blossomstar asked, remembering the legend of ThunderClan and that some cats joining it in the legend did not wish to take Clan names.  
"It's up to you," Prysetta told Blossomstar.  
"Well, then I say let you be full Clan! What about you, Shadow and Enigma?" Blossomstar asked.  
The two young cats nodded.  
"What would you like your kits' names to be?" Blossomstar inquired to Prysetta.  
"Thornkit," She pointed at Thero. "And Gladekit." She pointed at Guni.  
Blossomstar nodded, and leaped onto the Skytree.  
"Let all cats old enough to note the changes of the leaves, gather here for a Clan meeting!" Blossomstar called.  
The small Clan gathered, puzzled.  
"As you all know, we could not find Wolf after the battle, and for good reason. She had gone with her friend, Prysetta, to rescue Prysetta's kits and some others from the North cats. Whisperkit of BrookClan will be escorted back to her Clan by Wishlight, and Enigma and Shadow will be joining our Clan along with Thero, Guni, and Prysetta. Prysetta, do you swear to defend the Clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I do," the silver tabby replied.  
"Then by the powers invested in me by StarClan, I name you Wildfire. StarClan honors your bravery and compassion and welcome you as a full warrior of StormClan. Your kits will be known as Thornkit and Gladekit. Enigma and Shadow, you shall be known as Enigmakit and Shadowkit."  
"What is an enigma?" Walnutkit asked.  
"An enigma is a mystery," Blossomstar replied, eyes twinkling in amusement.  
"Okay," Walnutkit mewed.  
Blossomstar leaped off the Skytree, landing on the ground lightly. Enigmakit and Shadowkit stayed next to each other, looking awkward. Fallenbird helped Wildfire carry her kits to the nursery, while Walnutkit and Charredkit played around them.  
With a flash, Wolf nearly fell over as the scent of smoke filled her nostrils. Where was the fire? Then wolf saw. The flames leaped in the camp, mere shadows, but Wolf knew this would come to pass. MistClan and StormClan's territories would be incinerated. Cats would die. Cats would die…  
Because the North cats would commit arson. Arson, of all horrid, stupid things!  
Pale had told her about how her twolegs had yelled about arson when she had been a kittypet. She had said that arson was the act of purposefully burning something down.  
Wolf shuddered, snapping out of her vision, and padded to the Medicine den, knowing Crystalfern would understand her visions.  
"Crystalfern?" Wolf said warily.  
"Yes," came the muffled reply. "Come on, what do you need?"  
"I... I had a vision," Wolf stammered out.  
"Well, get on with it."  
"MistClan and StormClan burned to the ground."  
"What?" Crystalfern shrieked.  
"The North cats set it."  
"What? How?"  
Wolf shrugged.  
"I need to think," Crystalfern replied icily, and Wolf backed out of her den.  
Wolf padded out of the StormClan camp, nose searching for the tallest tree in the forest, for the Thunder Oak. Pulling herself up its blackened trunk, she looked around. Startling, she looked. Smoke. It had begun!  
Launching out of the tree, she sprinted back to the camp, pelt heating as the fire chased her- and it was gaining. It was a ways off, but Wolf could See that it was coming closer. Hurtling into the camp, she startled Crystalfern, who was padding over to Blossomstar.  
"Is it starting?" the mottled shecat asked.  
Wolf nodded.  
"Get every cat out of camp, head towards RabbitClan territory! And I mean everyone! Everyone and their kit!" Crystalfern yowled out.  
"What? Why?" Blossomstar asked.  
"Fire," Crystalfern replied, darting to the elders den and hauling Mousefoot to her feet.  
Sneezepaw darted out of the nursery, Thornkit hanging from his mouth, Wildfire by his side, carrying Gladekit. Enigmakit and Shadowkit raced after them, and Skypaw and Maplepaw carried Charredkit and Walnutkit. Fallenbird ran close to them, keeping watched over her kits. Twostep and Wishlight followed, tails streaming behind them. Blossomstar and Moonshine followed the last cat out of camp, believing Wolf to already be gone.  
Wolf looked around the camp, Sight focused. Shadowkit had stumbled, and blind in the smoke, the other cats hadn't seen him! Rushing to pick up the dark russet tom, she left camp, paws placing surely in the thick smoke.  
Finding the Clan, Wolf dropped Shadowkit by Blossomstar.  
"The Clan needs to go faster; the fire will pick up speed towards RabbitClan territory soon due to a wind change. The safest way is along the Thunderpath. Head towards it at a diagonal," Wolf ordered. "I need to warn MistClan."  
"How do you know this?" Blossomstar asked, but Wolf was gone.  
"StormClan, follow me!" Crystalfern yowled, Mousefoot leaning on the mottled medicine cat.

Wolf streaked across the Thunderpath, streaking through the pine trees into MistClan camp.  
"MistClanners! Everyone up and out, unless you want to be burned to a crisp!" Wolf yowled.  
"Is there a fire?" Duskbreeze asked, and Wolf nodded.  
"Head to BrookClan territory, your Clan will be safe there," Wolf told Emberstar.  
Duskbreeze darted into the nursery, followed by Gloryflame, and they came out, followed by Sandfur and Kinkytail, each cat carrying a kit. Astralnight helped Crowclaw, and Half-foot nudged Thorntooth along. Fernwhisker and Firnose vacated the camp, followed by the kit-carrying cats. Stoneflight and Lionroar followed, leading Astralnight, Half-foot, and the elders. Pinewing herded the apprentices out of camp, then Emberstar followed.  
Wolf knew how, where, and when the cats would be lost, but darting back to her own Clan, she realized she truly thought of herself as a StormClanner.  
Darting across the Thunderpath, she looked ahead and saw that her Clan was almost to the border stream. Good and bad.  
Darting along, she reached the border stream and jumped in just before Maplepaw stumbled into Skypaw and they dropped the kits they were carrying.  
Fallenbird shrieked and jumped into the stream after her kits, crying in despair as she saw her kits were too far away for her to get. Charredkit bobbed under, but the black shecat reappeared, along with a russet head as Wolf swam toward the shore, Walnutkit draped on her back.  
Emerging, dripping wet, onto the RabbitClan side of the stream, she set Charredkit down, and carefully removed the body of Walnutkit from her back.  
StormClan finished crossing the stream, Fallenbird first as she sprinted over to her kits. Licking Charredkit fiercly, the little black shecat coughed and stirred as Fallenbird turned her attention to Walnutkit, but no amount of motherly love could bring this kit back from the dead.  
Fallenbird wailed and curled around her dead kits body, burying herself in her grief. Twostep and Wishlight ran over to Wolf, who was lying down, soaking wet.  
Twostep covered her russet daughter in licks, while Wishlight cuddled next to the soaked russet shecat.  
Crystalfern padded over to Wolf. "Who of MistClan will…" She trailed off as Wolf listed the names.  
"Crowclaw, Horsepaw, Pinewing, and Stoneflight," Wolf replied exhaustedly.  
Crystalfern nodded. "The rest of the Clan will make it to safety?"  
"Mostly. Duskbreeze will be rendered unconscious- too much smoke- and they'll need you and Sneezepaw to help Raindrop. He'll already be battling greencough himself." Wolf said flatly.  
"But I just saw him last night!" Crystalfern exclaimed.  
"My eyes don't lie," Wolf sighed.  
"How can you- what are you talking about?" Twostep exclaimed. By this time, several cats had started listening in to their conversation.  
"Hate to tell you all this, because you will certainly all act like mouse-brained fish, but Wolf is the one of 'vision beyond vision' mentioned in the Prophecy of the Flame. Technically speaking, she is the Flame."  
Wolf sighed. "I hoped you wouldn't say that," She muttered.  
Twostep curled all the more protectively around Wolf, and Wishlight pressed closer to her sister.  
"Cats, please," Blossomstar meowed, padding forward. "Let her breathe." She shooed away the apprentices and kits, who were crowding around Wolf in awe. "Crystalfern, why didn't you tell me, and how long have you know?"  
"Only since the day Maskedstar died. Moonshine came to me after, asking how Wolf knew that Maskedstar had two lives when you all thought he had five left. So I told her the exact words of the Prophecy, and poof. We realized. Wolf was stolen, and probably dropped, late Greenleaf-late enough to be leaffall- and the Prophecy mentions that the Flame is 'Torn from birth, left in the fall'- fall is the twoleg word for leaffall- and Wolf was the only of Twostep's two taken kits to be 'left'- left in StormClan territory! There, Pale probably found her and raised her. Thank StarClan for that loner, or we'd still have to be searching for the Flame. Now come on, Sneezepaw. MistClan and BrookClan will need us." Crystalfern pulled her apprentice along, and the two medicine cats left abruptly.  
"Well that was… interesting," Wildfire summed up.

Chapter 11:

"Enigmapaw! Shadowpaw! Enigmapaw! Shadowpaw!" the collective cats of RabbitClan and StormClan chanted the two new apprentices' names.  
Enigmapaw bounded over to Wolfvision, and the russet shecat stood up.  
"What are we gonna start with?" The dark ginger apprentice was overjoyed at having the Flame as her mentor.  
"Hunting, currently. You need to hunt. Even now, keeping your Clan fed is more important than fighting. A hungry Clan is a weak Clan, and a weak Clan can't fight," Wolfvision summed up.  
"Okay," Enigmapaw bounded out of the RabbitClan camp onto the open moor. Wolfvision followed her, then called out to her.  
"Don't get too far ahead. We'll be turning soon. Keep an eye out for a rock shaped like a miniature tree, then turn northwest," Wolfvision called out.  
"Okay," Enigmapaw called back, turning the right direction when she came to the rock.  
"Keep going until you get to the stream with a copse of oak trees, then stop." Wolfvision told her.  
"'Kay!" Enigmapaw called back.  
Wolfvision followed her overly excited apprentice over the misty, smoky moor, her vision traveling across the ravaged landscape of what used to be StormClan territory. The stream next to the camp was an ashy, sludgy soupy mess and the Thunderoak had finally been felled and eaten by the terrible, arson-created fire.  
Wolfvision cast her sight to the BrookClan camp, where Crystalfern was helping Sneezepaw force-feed a convulsing apprentice. He would be dead by nightfall, struck down by greencough just when his body was weakest.  
Shaking her head in sadness for the young tom, Wolfvision turned her sight to what lay directly in front of her, having enough of the endless sorrow that the future seemed to hold. She was nearly halfway to the little stream, and that Enigmapaw had fallen back to pad next to Wolfvision.  
"What were you watching?" She asked.  
Wolfvision shook her head.  
"I watched someone die, but I can't help him, his death is fated to happen." Wolfvision shrugged. "I don't know what would happen if I interfered with what was fated to happen and I don't want to find out."  
Enigmapaw frowned. "Oh."  
"Look, we're almost there!" Wolfvision interrupted the apprentice's sad thoughts, pointing with her tail and speaking in a falsely bright tone.  
"Oh," Enigmapaw said flatly.  
"Listen, kid, you were so happy earlier. So excited. What happened to that?" Wolfvision asked.  
"The fact you know a cat is going to die, but you're not going to do anything to help." Enigmapaw turned away from Wolfvision.  
The russet shecat sighed.  
"Okay, let's go save an apprentice."

"I need more yarrow," Duskbreeze called. "Fogpaw has too much ash in his system."  
Sneezepaw darted into Raindrop's den, getting into his store and pulling out the rest of the yarrow. Taking it to Duskbreeze, he dropped it next to her.  
"This is the last of the yarrow," Sneezepaw told her.  
"Go see what herbs you can collect. Lore can manage fetching herbs for the two of us," Duskbreeze told Sneezepaw.  
Sneezepaw nodded, and ran out of the BrookClan camp, sniffing for the scents that would lead him to herbs. With a start, he realized he smelled a warm hint on the breeze. Newleaf was coming! With increased vigor, he headed towards the RabbitClan border.  
Pausing as he smelled two cats from his Clan, he paused as he saw Wolf and Enigmakit crossing the border stream, and he padded over to them.  
"Wolf, why have you taken Enigmakit out of RabbitClan camp?"  
"I'm Wolfvision now, and Enigmapaw is my apprentice." Wolfvision replied.  
"Oh. Still, what are you doing?"  
"Bringing you information that will help save a cat's life. Thornpaw of MistClan will catch greencough, even after you got the water out of his lungs, and unless you give him catmint, he will die," Wolfvision told him.  
"How do you know this?" Sneezepaw inquired.  
"Ask Crystalfern. You probably wouldn't stop bugging me and I'd have to tell Crystalfern myself."  
"Oh." Sneezepaw turned around, and sprinted back to the BrookClan camp.  
"Crystalfern, Wolfvision said that if you don't give and apprentice named Thornpaw catmint, he'll die tonight of greencough," Sneezepaw told his mentor. "How does Wolfvision know this?"  
"So she's Wolfvision now, eh? Good enough name for a cat with a prophecy about her," Crystalfern mused. "Lore, dear, can you get me some catmint?"  
The brown and white shecat trotted off to Raindrop's store, pulling out the last leaf.  
"Here," she placed it in front of Crystalfern.

Wolfvision stared at the ground.  
She had just made a terrible mistake.  
Now both Clans were completely out of catmint…  
And Wolfvision knew who would pay the price.  
Enigmapaw, her enigmatic young apprentice.  
And Thornpaw would still die.  
"Oh, StarClan, what have I done?" Wolfvision murmured.  
"What was that?" Enigmapaw asked innocently.  
Wolfvision shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Let's start practicing hunting."

That night, Wolfvision dreamed.  
Cats shrieked around her. Cats she knew and loved fell, dead. Twostep, Wishlight, Wildfire, Enigmapaw. Wolf was in the center of it, unharmed, untouchable.  
Then it stopped.  
Starry cats filled the hollow before her.  
"Learn, Wolfstar. Learn. You must not tamper with what is fated to happen." A dark brown tom told her.  
"Wolfstar? I'm not a leader!" Wolfvision cried. "Please, just let Enigmapaw live!"  
"We will," the tom told her. "But at one price: once your job of saving the Clans is over, you will return the gift of the future to StarClan."  
Wolfvision nodded swiftly. "It's almost too much to bear."  
"We will let you slip this once, but do not interfere with the future again." The dark brown tom ordered.  
Wolfvision nodded again.  
And everything faded to daylight for the prophesized one.

"I hope the North cats don't attack," Enigmapaw said nervously.  
"Don't worry, they're not," Wolfvision replied to her apprentice, eyes casting into the future just to make certain.  
Enigmapaw visibly relaxed.  
"They're still miffed as to how Wildfire and I managed to whoop Red's butt. Technically, it was only me fighting her."  
Enigmapaw laughed. "True."  
Wolfvision lead her apprentice toward the Northrock, sitting near its base, watching as Blossomstar and Juniperstar leapt up onto it.  
With a start, Wolfvision realized how old Blossomstar was. Not only that, but she was on her last life. If she died, she wouldn't be coming back.  
Soon, Wolfvision smelled the mingled scents of BrookClan and MistClan. She watched as Emberstar and Froststar lead their Clans into the hollow from which Northrock jutted out. Letting the Clans converse, Emberstar and Froststar joined Blossomstar and Juniperstar.  
Astralnight padded over to where Wolfvision.  
"How's Wishlight been?" he asked, ear twitching as he mentioned her.  
Correctly reading his thoughts, Wolfvision suppressed a chuckle.  
"She's your sister, mousebrain," she told him.  
"What?" he squealed.  
"Ask Emberstar if you want a second voice on the matter," Wolfvision replied, then went back to telling stories to the apprentices assembled around her as Astralnight stumbled off.

"You look like you swallowed a sparrow whole, Astralnight," Emberstar called down from her perch on Northrock.  
"Wolfvision just told me that she and Wishlight are my sisters," Astralnight stammered out.  
Emberstar squirmed as she looked away, and Blossomstar burst out with a mrrow of laughter.  
"I win," Blossomstar choked out to Juniperstar and Froststar.  
"I bet that Wolfvision was watching our conversation," Juniperstar replied. "So that means you cheated!"  
"Precisely. Watching. She can't listen while she watches. Or can she?" Blossomstar pondered.  
With a star, Blossomstar realized that this was the friendliest Gathering she'd ever heard about or witnessed. It was more like they were one single Clan than four Gathered, separate Clans.  
"Do you feel it too?" Blossomstar asked the other leaders. "That we're more like one Clan than four?"  
Emberstar nodded, and Froststar followed suit.  
"I have a feeling the way the four Clans work together will change forever," Juniperstar commented.  
The stars seemed to say 'you have no idea'.

Chapter Twelve:

"Let the Gathering begin!" Emberstar called, and the chattering Clans calmed down.  
In the audience below, Wolfvision squirmed. For good reasons, she didn't want the Gathering to end.  
"MistClan is recovering after suffering losses in the fire," Emberstar began. "The cats we lost consist of Thornpaw, Horsepaw, Stoneflight, Pinewing, and Crowclaw. We are thankful to Froststar and BrookClan for allowing us to stay at their camp until ours and our territory are both inhabitable again."  
Froststar took Emberstar's place. "It is our pleasure to help MistClan. The fire could have happened to any of us. We thank StormClan for the return of Whisperpaw, and Icefur has given birth to three healthy kits: Rosekit, Leopardkit, and Jaykit."  
Froststar let Blossomstar speak.  
"We only lost one cat to the fire. We will all grieve for Walnutkit, for he had his whole life ahead of him. Our Clan has been joined by Wildfire, her kits Thornkit and Gladekit, and the apprentices Enigmapaw and Shadowpaw, whose mentors are Wolfvision and Wishlight. Mousefoot was forced to join the elders den after the battle with the North cats at MistClan, and we wish her a long time among us, sharing stories and experiences."  
Juniperstar took his turn speaking.  
"We are joined tonight by Briarpaw and Birchpaw, kits of our former leader Maskedstar," Juniperstar started and finished. The silver shecat and white and silver tom raised their heads proudly.  
Blossomstar jumped down from the rock, the cue to start mingling again.  
Looking to the north of her, Wolfvision realized that she had happened to be sitting next to Briarpaw. Leaning down to hiss in the apprentice's ear, she made her first official "Prophecy": hard to understand and confusing as heck.  
"Take care of yourself, kit. You've got a destiny." Standing up, Wolfvision left Briarpaw with her jaw hanging open.  
"StormClan!" Blossomstar called. The scattered StormClanners gravitated to Blossomstar, and Wolfvision shifted uncomfortably on her paws.  
"What's wrong?" Wishlight asked, but Wolfvision shook her head.  
Warily, with heightened vigilance, Wolfvision remained close to Wishlight, Twostep, and Enigmapaw.  
Sometimes she wished she was still with Pale, just the two of them, and that Thunderwing hadn't thought they were malignant rogues. She wished she could just run away, but she was too motivated to actually run. Her love for Enigmapaw and Wishlight and Twostep was too strong.  
Shivering, Wolfvision's ears strained for the sound of rustling, and the cracking twig that would signify the North cat's attack, and she startled as she heard it, spinning on her paws and hooking her claws into a ginger tom's skin.  
With a screech, the ginger tom was pinned, and all hell broke loose. Cats screamed as claws were unsheathed and teeth broke skin.  
Wolfvision and the tom spun in a tangle of fiery fur. Amber and green eyes burned, and there was a hush against the two battling cats. Wolfvision's teeth snapped close to The Dragon's neck, and The Dragon's claws came close to scoring down her underbelly. Wolfvision's paw snapped down on the back of The Dragon's neck, and the ginger tom stumbled away, intense pain burning through his body.  
The cats left as fast as they came, fleeing into the night as clouds covered the moon.  
"It's a sign!" Crystalfern gasped as rain began to pour out of the heavens.  
"StormClan shall be the first to fall." Crystalfern stood over her leader's body, tail lashing. "We will not survive this moon."

Crystalfern's omen lay heavy on the Clan's shoulders. Moonshine delicately carried Blossomstar's body, and the silver shecat looked worn and injured.  
Wolfvision knew she had to offer the Clan solace of some kind, some kind of comfort. Opening her jaws to speak, she then closed them, remembering her conversation with the StarClan tom.  
Why had he called her Wolfstar? Twitching an ear, Wolfvision knew she was no leader. She could barely keep Enigmapaw out of trouble.  
'This is all part of something bigger, Wolfstar. Just let destiny take you upon its wings,' the stars that twinkled seemed to tell her.  
Sprinting away from the Clan, Wolfvision had to be alone. Flying across the moor, Wolfvision skidded to a stop, staring at the charred remains of the beautiful, rustling woods that had been her home.  
"Why?" She yowled into the sky.  
"Why am I here? What is my purpose?!" She screeched.  
Sobbing as the rain fell, Wolfvision curled up into a ball. She couldn't ask the question. She couldn't. If she did, she would know.  
She didn't want to know who the next to die would be. It would be too painful.  
Closing her eyes, she drifted into a wet, rushing dream.  
A dream of her end.

A paw was shoved rudely into Wolfvision's sight.  
"Wolfvision, you sleepy head. We need to go train!" Enigmapaw shoved her paw in Wolfvision's side again.  
Sleepily raising her head, Wolfvision figured that somehow she had ended up back in the RabbitClan camp. Cats didn't generally sleepwalk, but it wasn't unheard of.  
"How can you have such energy?" Wolfvision grumbled, dragging herself to her feet as the rattle of rain sounded on the roof of the den. "Not to mention it's still raining!"  
Enigmapaw shrugged and sprinted out of the den.  
Wolfvision followed, paws dragging out into the clearing. Moonshine and Crystalfern were gone to the Startree, probably for Moonshine's nine lives.  
With a groan, Wolfvision sat down. Enigmapaw looked at her funnily.  
"Are you okay?" Apprentice asked mentor.  
"Yes," Wolfvision replied. "I'm fine."  
She wasn't. Dreaming about her death had made the shecat twitchy in the rain. After knowing that water would bring an end to the Flame, she was incredibly uncomfortable right then.  
"No you're not," Enigmapaw replied. "I can see it in your eyes."  
Wolfvision shrugged.  
Shaking her head, Enigmapaw just smiled. "C'mon, let's just be a regular mentor and apprentice for once."  
Wolfvision smiled, a genuine smile. "Yes, let's."

Wolfvision was not a happy kitty.  
Having to lead the mingled Clans to the North cats, no cat would be.  
But especially not Wolfvision, who knew exactly what was going to go down.  
She couldn't disagree, remembering the promise she had made to the StarClanner. She would not try to alter the future.  
She would just take part in it.  
"Are we close yet?" Froststar hissed, his eyes clear and healthy, the BrookClan leader fully recovered from greencough.  
Wolfvision nodded warily, pointing with her tail to the dilapidated building.  
The Clan cats surrounded it, and they waited for the signal. Finally, the lone white tom sprinted towards the barn, and with a roar, the Clan cats surged forward.  
Pouring in through any spot, the North cats were caught unaware by the Clan cats.  
Wolfvision was soon floored, seeing stars and closing her eyes, helpless to do anything other than watch, detached from her body.  
She watched Firnose's eye get clawed out, and the shecat crawled to a corner, mewling in pain.  
Juniperstar's chest had a pair of claws invade it, and he fell, losing a life.  
Wolfvision could only be thankful that Enigmapaw and Shadowpaw weren't here. It had been decided that they should stay behind and lead the Clan cats away if things went wrong. The Clans had pitched everything on this one battle, hoping to annihilate the North cats before the Clan cats were picked off one by one.  
Not everything was going the North cats' way. Wolfvision watched as Froststar tore the throat out of a red tabby shecat, letting her body fall limply to the floor. Briarpaw and Birchpaw tangled with a light russet tom about their age.  
The tide of the battle shifted quickly, favoring the Clans one moment, the North cats the next. A black and dark grey shecat tore into Bogpaw's neck, and Marshpaw felled the shecat for harming her brother. A brown tabby tom flung off Fernwisker and slipped his teeth into Galewinds' throat, felling the RabbitClan deputy and MistClan warrior in one movement. He turned to face Astralnight and Lionroar, teeth bared in the joyous ecstasy of killing.  
Half-foot battled viciously against a blue smoke shecat whose pelt was covered in battle scars. Red tore her fangs through Moonstar's belly, the StormClan leader's first life failing. Juniperstar was back on his paws, and he threw himself on Red's back, his claws scoring down her back.  
Troutscale fought a tabby and white shecat and they danced on hind legs as they courted one another in a bloody battle of death. Soon the shecat lay dead in a heap and Troutscale turned back to the tide of blood.  
Slowly, inevitably, the Clans began to lose. With a start, Wolfvision looked at where her body had been. It wasn't there anymore!  
With a sigh of breath, Wolfvision's conscience rushed back to her body and her Sight faded to black.

Wolfvision's eyes fluttered open, green staring into yellow.  
"Ahh!" She shrieked, scrambling away.  
"What's wrong?" A light brown tom asked.  
Wolfvision lay there panting.  
"Are you okay?" the tom persisted.  
Wolfvision shivered. "I guess… Are you a North cat?"  
"No. I heard an unusual amount of yowling coming from their barn, so went to check it out. I brought you here. You would have been trampled," The tom explained.  
"I'm Wolfvision," Wolfvision paused, ears perked in a way that let the tom know it was his turn.  
"My name is Rye," the tom told her. "Welcome to my humble abode."  
Wolfvision looked around. The grassy, mossy floor… the feathers tucked in the earthen walls… she could stay here for time eternal.  
"Feel free to sleep, hunt, leave, whatever." Rye shrugged.  
Wolfvision smiled. "I think I'll just sleep. Funny, I feel really tired."  
"Not too unusual. Looks like you sustained a big bump to the head there." Rye turned, padding over to curl up by the wall.  
Feeling content and comfortable, Wolfvision drifted to sleep.

"You have a choice to make." The dark brown StarClan tom was in Wolfvision's dream. "You can stay with Rye and live comfortably, away from the pain of the Clans. You would have no regrets, for the fate of the Clans would be placed in the paws of some cat more trustworthy. Or you could lead Rye into a battle he may not survive, that you might not survive."  
Wolfvision looked down. "I can't make that choice," she muttered. "What does Rye have to do with this?"  
"Your destinies are irrevocably intertwined. Either choice, one day you will fulfill your destiny as the Flame, and Rye will be by your side. From your first incarnation as Firewolf, my deputy, to this one, Rye has been there. As Darkbreak, deputy after you, to now, he has been there."  
Wolfvision looked down. "And Enigmapaw, Wishlight?"  
"Just cats." The dark brown tom looked straight at Wolfvision.  
Wolfvision met his eyes.  
"Wake me up. I have some Clans to get to."

Chapter 13:

Rye looked quizzically at Wolfvision.  
"Are you sure you're not delirious?"  
Wolfvision nodded. "Absolutely. We have to get back to the Clans before BrookClan follows in StormClan's steps."

Screeching woke Astralnight up.  
He darted out of the wet, fishy den, claws unsheathed. North cats had flooded the clearing, teeth bared in snarls of hatred. Launching himself at a golden and white shecat, they tussled violently. Around them, claws shone, teeth glinted, and fur flew.  
Astralnight landed a lucky hit and the shecat fell, not to get up again. He turned and engaged a lilac tabby tom, teeth slashing against the tom's claws.  
The tom threw Astralnight away, and Astralnight landed in a dazed haze. Nearby him, Minnoweye slashed, claws ripping into a cinnamon tabby tom's skin. The tabby tom shrieked, and, backing away, fled.  
A ruddy brown tabby shecat reared over Astralnight, and he rolled away, springing to his paws and launching at her with his claws extended to their fullest. A small light russet tom crashed into Astralnight, and the silver MistClan tom was knocked off balance. Flinging the russet tom away, Astralnight turned away from where Lionroar fell to a ginger tom's claws. Minnoweye and Astralnight were pressed together, claws flinging outward as they struggled against a trio of toms.  
"You Clan cats are all so pathetic!" Flake jeered. "Look at this, you're failing so easily!"  
"Listen to the featherbrain! For once, he's right!" Gallow taunted, then he choked as Astralnight ripped his claws through the soft flesh of his neck. Turning to bite Flake's side, Astralnight instead nipped off the end of the tom's tail.  
Screeching, Flake fled, leaving Rak facing the angry toms alone. With a start, the North cats realized that they were beat and turned tail, fleeing.  
Astralnight stood, panting, ready to collapse. Duskbreeze meandered her way over to him, giving him some quick licks and telling him to go see Raindrop.  
Astralnight stumbled over to Raindrop's den, legs barely holding his weight. As soon as he flopped down, he was asleep, drifting in a sea of black.

"Let all cats who stalk as the mist and who swim as the river, gather here for a dual Clan meeting!" Emberstar called.  
Nightpaw looked over to where Froststar and Emberstar stood, posed in an awkward position from licking his wound. He un-contorted into a somewhat normal position, ears twitching as the two Clans gathered around the area where the leaders stood.  
The Clan was unprepared for what came next.

Wolfvision and Rye streaked along, side by side, as the culmination of the North cats' preparation came to fruition. Sight cast ahead, Wolfvision watched as the North cats pretended to fall back, then shifted as the fresh, larger second wave prepared to hit the battered Clans.  
Tails streaking behind them, the two cats cut a corner and leaped a stream, paws coming down in a marshy area. They struggled through the mud as fast as they could, popping out onto dry land. Their ears twitched as they heard screeches afresh as the second attack began.

Fogpaw was borne away as the North cats flooded into the BrookClan camp for the second time. His claws slashed and his jaws snapped as the unbreakable throng heaved around him. Was that an ally he just downed? Or a North cat? He couldn't tell.  
Bramblepaw got spit out of the horde and landed next to him, and they went back to back as their claws flailed about. Soon, Fogpaw was swept away from the light grey shecat to fight next to Rainpaw. Their heads snapped around as they battled together as a nearly unstoppable team. Unfortunately, the team was broken apart as the horde picked Rainpaw up and spit Froststar out next to him.  
Whisperpaw. Firnose. Bramblepaw. Fogpaw lost track of who he was fighting next to; he just was. He was a vengeful spirit, wreaking havoc on the North cats.  
Quiet. The battle was over. Time to grieve. A russet shecat panted next to a light brown tom as they looked around.  
"Wolfvision," Emberstar said sadly. "We thought you were dead."  
Wolfvision shook her head. "Too early for that, yet."  
"Do you know?" Rainpaw asked. "Did you know?"  
Wolfvision nodded. "BrookClan is no more."  
The cats in the clearing bowed their heads, sad with sorrow.  
Emberstar padded forward.  
"We cannot allow this to keep us from moving forward. Fogpaw, step forward."  
The light grey tom stepped forward.  
"I, Emberstar, leader of MistClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this young cat. He has learned the ways of your noble Code well. Fogpaw, do you promise to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"  
"I do." Fogpaw's voice was proud and clear.  
"Then by the power invested in me as leader of MistClan, I name you Fogbracken. StarClan honors your ferocity and determination, and welcome you as a full warrior of MistClan."  
"Fogbracken! Fogbracken!" MistClan chanted.  
"Mudkit, Thrushkit, Sunkit, and Fatekit. Step forward."  
The chosen kits padded to the front of MistClan.  
"Fatekit, it is my understanding that you wish to become a medicine cat. Is that correct?"  
The amber-eyed tom nodded.  
"Then from now until you earn your name, you will be known as Fatepaw. Learn the ways of the medicine cat code and follow them with your life."  
"Mudkit, from now until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Mudpaw. Fogbracken, pass on your fighting skills to young Mudpaw."  
"Thrushkit, from now until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Thrushpaw. Fishleap, teach her your undeniable loyalty."  
"Sunkit, from now until you earn your warrior name, you shall be known as Sunpaw. I shall train you myself." Emberstar finished, sighing.  
"Fatepaw! Mudpaw! Thrushpaw! Sunpaw!"

Wolfvision twisted in her sleep.  
"It is coming, Wolfstar. You must be ready," Stormstar instructed.  
Wolfvision dipped her head. "I will."  
"It will come sooner than you think. Constant vigilance!" Stormstar barked.  
Wolfvision rolled her eyes. "I know."  
Stormstar's eyes narrowed.  
"I think you've earned a break. Spend some time among cats you need to. Make amends that you need to. You cannot keep that poison within you forever."  
Wolfvision twitched. How did he know she had never forgiven Pale?  
Stormstar faded, and a light cream shecat appeared before her.  
Pale's head was tilted downwards, her eyes looking at her paws.  
"I'm proud of you, Wolf," Pale spoke first. "I truly am. You will make a great leader."  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Wolfvision snarled. "You should have had faith in me!"  
"I always have had faith in you." Pale dodged Wolfvision's question.  
"Answer my question," Wolfvision's snarl came from deep in her throat.  
"It was because you were happy. I didn't see the need to upset you."  
Wolfvision squirmed. "But you owed it to me."  
"No, I didn't. I wasn't the one to steal you away from StormClan. It was MistClan. But don't worry about them; they're a different Clan than they were."  
Wolfvision sighed. "I guess I can forgive you…"  
Pale surged forward and licked the top of Wolfvision's head.  
"I'll see you again," Pale smiled, and faded to be replaced by Twostep.  
"Wolfvision!" Twostep purred. "You've been growing, and in more ways than one."  
Wolfvision nodded, stepping forward tentatively.  
"Oh, just get over here," Twostep mrrowed, and Wolfvision trotted forward and mother and daughter covered each other in licks.  
Twostep nuzzled Wolfvision's head, purring in a rumbly way. "My time is short, but there's so much I wish to tell you! Be strong, and keep well fed. You have a hard path ahead of you. Be sure to trust your littermates with your life. They'll save yours more than once."  
Wolfvision nodded. "It's only what siblings do."  
Twostep nodded, and stepping back, faded to be replaced by Thunderwing.  
"Wolfvision," Thunderwing began. "Let me begin by telling you how sorry I am about attacking you and Pale that day so many moons ago. I was wrong to do that, and I hope you forgive-"  
Wolfvision cut him off.  
"I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have forgotten you."  
"No, you had no control over-"  
"Thunderwing." Wolfvision said.  
"Yes?"  
"Shut up." With that, Wolfvision pressed her muzzle against her father's, purring loudly.

Wolfvision woke up with a smile. Regardless of how today was going to pan out, Wolfvision was still happy. She had made her peace, and was ready to fight.  
Padding over to Emberstar, Wolfvision made her face serious.  
"We need to get the injured cats, the queens, the kits, and the elders away from the Clan territories," Wolfvision told Emberstar.  
Emberstar twitched an ear. "Why not just to RabbitClan?"  
Wolfvision shook her head. "I'll be going to RabbitClan, to warn them. Send them to wait by the Thunderpath."  
Emberstar nodded, and padded over to Sandfur to speak with her while Wolfvision darted out of the BrookClan camp towards the moor.  
Streaking over streams and marshy areas, Wolfvision thundered over the Thunderpath and into RabbitClan territory. She streaked into the RabbitClan camp, startling many cats.  
Panting, Wolfvision padded over to Juniperstar.  
"You need to send the elders, kits, and queens away. It is a necessity if they are to survive." Wolfvision's eyes were serious, and the glint in them told Juniperstar to listen to her.  
"I will also need Briarpaw, Enigmapaw, and Sneezerumble to come with me and the queens and elders. They'll be needed to help protect the kits. Any more cats and for certain every RabbitClan cat in this camp would die."  
"Why can't we all just leave?" Juniperstar asked, and Wolfvision shook her head.  
"If you did, no one would survive, and the Clans would die. Trust me."  
Juniperstar nodded, and called the required cats to him.  
"You will be going with Wolfvision, to wherever she'll be taking you…" He paused, looking questioningly at Wolfvision, then continued. "The Clans will need you all to survive. We don't know who will survive today's battle –battles?- and you will be needed to help the Clans live on."  
The cats shifted, and then Sneezerumble stepped forward.  
"Of course. I have a feeling we should go now?"  
Wolfvision nodded, then turned, leaving the RabbitClan camp.


	3. Part Three

Chapter 14:

Wolfvision knew it was going to be over in a matter of minutes once it was started.  
The Clans were too battered to fight back.  
Casting her Sight over the way they'd just come, Wolfvision made sure that they weren't followed. Once sure, Wolfvision turned to Enigmapaw, who was standing by her.  
"Take Briarpaw with you, and look around. See if you can hunt any for the queens and elders," Wolfvision told her apprentice.  
Enigmapaw nodded and bounded over to Briarpaw, who nodded as Enigmapaw told her what Wolfvision had said.  
Wolfvision turned to Wildfire, and beckoned her over with her tail. Wildfire came, followed by Rye.  
"Wildfire, were there any other queens that-" Wolfvision was cut off as Wildfire nodded.  
"Saruny and Ellinoa's kits were being used as bartering chips too," Wildfire replied.  
Wolfvision looked at Rye.  
"What do you think?"  
Rye shrugged.  
"I think we should ask Sneezerumble and the elders," Wildfire suggested.  
Wolfvision shrugged, then stood up and walked over to where Sneezerumble was talking to Houndhowl and Mousefoot.  
"I need your opinions," Wolfvision started. "There are a pair of North cat queens who are being forced to comply with the leader because their kits are being used as bartering chips."  
"And you want to go help them," Mousefoot finished. "Go ahead, more kits will help."  
Houndhowl looked uncomfortable. "I don't know…"  
"Ellinoa's kits will be almost apprentice age by now," Wildfire put in.  
"Sure, then," Houndhowl consented.  
"Sneezerumble?" Wolfvision turned to the medicine cat.  
"By all means, please do," he told her.  
"Okay then. We'll go when the North cats are busy with their… business," Wolfvision confirmed. "I'll take Rye, Enigmapaw, and Briarpaw. Briarpaw would be a warrior by now if we were with the Clans, but I just had to be sure she lived," Wolfvision mused. "She's the only one capable of leading RabbitClan."  
"What about BrookClan, StormClan, and MistClan?" Sneezerumble asked.  
"Astralnight for MistClan, he's obvious… I don't know about BrookClan or StormClan, though," Wolfvision replied.  
"We'll just wait and see, then," Sneezerumble concluded, turning away from the other cats. "I need to see to Astralnight."

Cat fought against cat. Clan surged against North. Slashing, Emberstar's claws mowed down North cats left and right. Next to her were Firnose and Stormysky, bravery unmatched. Stormysky fell, replaced by Bramblepaw. If she survived, Bramblepaw would be a warrior. The lines held, until MistClan's started to buckle and break. A light brown tabby tom surged between Emberstar and Firnose, and Emberstar lost sight of her dark brown warrior.  
A ginger tom crashed into Emberstar, bringing his claws down on her head, and once again, her sight went black.

Coming back around, Emberstar burst into a cinnamon tabby tom, claws raking down his side. Emberstar was swamped by North cats as she fought the cinnamon tom, and her vision went black once more.

Light flooding into her eyes, Emberstar rushed over and tore a cat off of Sunpaw, but the sparkle in her apprentice's was already dying as he looked into StarClan's hunting grounds.  
Taken by surprise, Emberstar fell once again to a blue smoke shecat.

Waking back up, Emberstar was determined to keep going, to not fall again. Passing by the fallen body of Gloryflame, Emberstar found herself back to back with Firnose, fighting next to the dark brown shecat once again.  
So involved in fighting the lilac tabby tom that was trying to get to her, Emberstar didn't see Firnose fall, and didn't see the dark brown tom coming and landing a deathblow on her neck.

Emberstar woke up, seeing Mudpaw and Rainpaw battling North cats together over her. Scrambling upright, Emberstar joined them, keeping the heaving North cats away from them, fighting to keep them alive.  
A cry came from the west of Emberstar, and her eye caught Mudpaw falling. Moving to protect Rainpaw's back, Emberstar's claws flashed, cutting down cats, but it wasn't enough. A ginger tom leaped, sinking his teeth into the MistClan leader's throat, and all went black for her, for the final time.

"MistClan! Retreat!"  
Duskbreeze's voice flew over the fighting cats, and stunned, the MistClan cats nearly flew out of the blood-stained camp, paws thudding against the ground as they fled in terror, scattered to the four winds.  
Bramblepaw found herself sprinting next to Nightpaw and Fatepaw, and the three apprentices kept close as they sprinted towards the RabbitClan camp. Blowing over the Thunderpath, the battered cats thundered towards the only place they thought they could take refuge.

Fogbracken, Thrushpaw, and Duskbreeze's paws led them northwards, following the paths that not so long ago, little kit paws had tread.  
Thrushpaw tripped over something that squeaked, and Duskbreeze looked back to see that she had tripped over Enigmapaw. Nearby, Briarpaw was laughing quietly.  
Enigmapaw picked herself up, shooting a glare over at Briarpaw.  
"It's not funny!" She protested.  
Fogbracken looked at Enigmapaw.  
"Shouldn't you two be with RabbitClan?" He asked warily.  
Briarpaw shook her head.  
"Wolfvision told us that we needed to come with her and all the elders and kits," she explained. "Sneezerumble's with us too, he's just back at the camp area looking after all the cats with Rye and Wolfvision."  
"We were told to go hunting for them," Enigmapaw added.  
Duskbreeze nodded.  
"Can you take us to them?" the light grey medicine cat asked.  
"Sure!" Enigmapaw bounced away through the long grass, and the battered MistClan cats followed.  
The place the elders and queens had taken refuge at was a stone twoleg nest, dilapidated and secluded. Most of the twoleg things near the Outermost were dilapidated and old. Except for the twolegs that lived at the sheep-place and the occasional traveler along the Thunderpath, this place was abandoned by twolegs, allowing nature to thrive.  
Wolfvision and Rye were padding out of the stone den, and their tails rose at the appearance of Enigmapaw, Briarpaw, and the MistClanners.  
"You're just in time. We're going to the North cat's camp. There is another pair of queens whose kits are being used to control them. Briarpaw, Enigmapaw, you're coming with us." Her head turned to Duskbreeze. "May we borrow Fogbracken for it if he's up to it?"  
Duskbreeze looked at the tom in question, and he nodded and started to pad over to Wolfvision and Rye.  
"Come on then," Wolfvision took off at a trot, followed by Rye, the apprentices, and Fogbracken.  
"This way," the russet shecat hissed, slipping through the reeds by a small stream and slinking through them.  
Followed by the other cats, Wolfvision stopped when she saw the dilapidated barn. Her pelt shivered as she felt a great anticipation.  
"Come on," she hissed, darting over to the barn.  
Red was taken by surprise, as she was standing next to two long-furred white shecats.  
Rye pounced on Red, claws digging into her shoulder.  
"Are you two Saruny and Ellinoa?" Wolfvision asked, padding up to them.  
The two shecats nodded.  
"I'm a friend of Prysetta's. You two want to come with me?" she asked.  
The blue-eyed shecat nodded.  
"Thank you," she told Wolfvision, padding over to pick up a red tabby shecat.  
Enigmapaw and Briarpaw followed her, picking up her other two kits.  
The bluegreen-eyed shecat waved her tail, and a trio of apprentice-aged kits trotted over to her.  
"This is Xana," The shecat pointed to a lilac tabby shecat. "Rashike and Jalna." She pointed to a blue smoke shecat and silver fawn tabby respectively.  
Wolfvision nodded, and ushered the two shecats and their kits out of the barn.  
Rye jumped off of Red, leaving the shecat panting as Wolfvision and Rye led the cats back to the place they were sheltering.  
"Saruny! Ellinoa!" Wildfire pounded over to the two shecats.  
"Prysetta!" The blue-eyed shecat squealed.  
"It's Wildfire now, Ellinoa. I'm a Clan cat," Wildfire purred proudly.  
"That's wonderful," Ellinoa purred. "I bet it's great."  
"It is. My kits get protection, and I give the Clan a helping paw with things."  
Saruny purred as well, a smile curling on her muzzle.

Juniperstar was taken by surprise.  
He was so surprised he didn't fight back, and the ginger tom sunk his claws into the RabbitClan leader's chest.

His second attempt was no better. A battle-scarred blue smoke shecat sunk her claws into his neck, and all went black.

He woke up to see Risingwind falling to the claws of a cinnamon tabby tom.  
Juniperstar took his revenge, the cinnamon tabby falling to his claws.  
Hearing a yowl, the RabbitClan leader turned, sinking his teeth into the neck of a light brown tabby tom.  
A red tabby tom took Juniperstar's next life.

Pulling himself to his paws, Wishlight's claws were flashing nearby as she kept cats away from Juniperstar.  
"Behind you!" Juniperstar gasped, and Wishlight turned, knocking a cat away. Juniperstar darted to fight next to her, their claws slicing in unison.  
A dark brown tabby tom launched at them, but his head was impaled on Wishlight's claws.  
With a shriek, Wishlight fell and Juniperstar was fighting cat after cat, knocking them away and sinking his claws into their throats.  
Juniperstar barely registered that he had killed The Dragon, so intent was he on keeping alive.  
In vengeance, a blue smoke shecat took one of Juniperstar's lives.

His lives dropped like flies, and finally Juniperstar lay still.  
"We did it!" Koret cried. "We broke them! The Clans are no more!"  
The North cats cheered in jubilee.

Chapter 15:

Stormwind, Fireclaws, and Maplepaw walked along dejectedly. They wondered what they would do now that the Clans were no more. Would they become loners? Kittypets? Would any surviving Clan member seek shelter with the North cats?  
Maplepaw wondered how Briarpaw and Enigmapaw were. Were they okay?  
"Hey, look!" Stormwind hissed, pointing with his tail to four cats streaking across the moor towards them.  
"Hey!" Maplepaw exclaimed. "One of them is Bramblepaw!"  
Fireclaws nodded. "Is that MistClan's medicine cat apprentice?"  
"And there are Nightpaw and Rainpaw, too," Stormwind nodded.  
Maplepaw waved her tail high, and the four apprentices sprinted over to them.  
"What's happening at BrookClan?" Fireclaws asked.  
Bramblepaw shook her head.  
"MistClan and BrookClan are no more." Her voice was serious, her eyes downcast.  
Maplepaw made a keening noise, grieving for the lost Clan.  
"We have to keep going," Stormwind growled. "We need to find the elders and queens."  
Fatepaw nodded. "Maybe Duskbreeze is still alive," he mused hopefully.  
"Maybe," Stormwind rumbled.

Wolfvision led Enigmapaw along a narrow trail.  
"Listen to me, Enigmapaw. Don't flip out, or anything, but I have some bad news," Wolfvision mewed.  
Enigmapaw tilted her head.  
"Shadowpaw is dead."  
"No!" Enigmapaw screamed, collapsing and sobbing.  
"Listen to me," Wolfvision said more forcefully. "The future is beginning to grow dim to me, but I know one thing. By tomorrow, the remaining cats of the Clans will be here. We will have to strike back. If we are to have any hope of success, we will need you, with your head in the battle. Without you, we will all die. You will strike the killing blow, the destroying blow, to the North cats. But without you, that blow can never be struck. The Clans will never be reborn, and the North cats will reign supreme. We need your skills, your intelligence. We need you."  
Enigmapaw sniffled.  
"O-okay," She stammered. "How do you know this?"  
"Because I have vision beyond vision. Because I am the Flame. That is how I know," Wolfvision growled. "Because I am Firewolf, the first deputy of StormClan. Because I am also Wolfstar, the remaker of StormClan. I know because I have accepted my destiny. Have you accepted yours?"  
Enigmapaw's eyes were wide.  
"Oh," was all she said as Wolfvision padded away.

Stormwind led the way, nose in the air.  
"This way," he mewed, turning to the west. "They're close."  
Right on cue, Thrushpaw and Briarpaw burst out of the bracken, laughing playfully.  
"Ah! Thrushpaw!" Bramblepaw exclaimed, rushing over to the young apprentice and licking her head.  
"Bramblepaw!" Thrushpaw purred.  
"You're okay!" Fatepaw gasped, Nightpaw and Rainpaw smiling.  
"Of course," Thrushpaw mewed. "I bet Wolfvision wants to see you." Thrushpaw stood up, Briarpaw leading the way.  
"Wolfvision!" Briarpaw called.  
A russet head poked out of a stone twoleg den.  
"Briarpaw! You lot! Get in here! We need to plan!" Wolfvision growled.  
Shrugging, the cats slipped into the den. Trying not to step on kits, they made their way over to where Wolfvision was sitting with Rye, Enigmapaw, Fogbracken, Duskbreeze, Sneezerumble, Mousefoot, Houndhowl, and Thorntooth.  
"We're going to attack the North cats' camp tomorrow," Wolfvision proclaimed. "We can win, and we will."  
Fatepaw leaped onto Duskbreeze.  
"You're okay!" he purred, ignoring Wolfvision.  
Duskbreeze nodded. "That I am."  
Fireclaws shifted. "Is it really a good idea to attack the North cats' camp?"  
"With Enigmapaw fighting, we will win," Wolfvision stated.  
"How?" Stormwind asked.  
"She's the other half of the Flame," Wolfvision meowed lowly. "Because without her, the prophecy won't come to pass."  
"I was told by Stormstar that she was just a cat. She is. A very valuable cat. If the coming of both Enigmapaw and I hadn't been so perfect, the Clans would be lost."  
Stormwind gasped. "But the Prophecy only says one-"  
"The way it is worded, there can be two. I am the one of vision beyond vision; she is the one of battle and peace. She was raised to revel in battle, yet she strives for peace. The Prophecy is being fulfilled."  
Sneezerumble nodded.  
"Now it's just the final battle that awaits us."

The cats slunk along the grass, eyes alit with anticipation. At the front stalked two russet shecats, eyes glowing in the dusk light as rain fell gently.  
The dilapidated barn loomed in front of them, its bulky form inciting adrenaline to surge along their veins.  
Today was the last day of the war between the North cats and the cats of the Clans.  
"Cats of the Clans, to victory!" Wolfvision cried, and the patrol of cats surged forward.  
The North cats were trapped, and frightened. The Clan cats waited for them, claws unsheathed, cutting down the North cats. Bodies piled by the exits, and when it felt safe, the Clan cats entered the barn.  
The battle was evened out, the number of Clan cats equal to the number of North cats. Wolfvision and Enigmapaw were at the front, battling Koret and Red.  
"Why are you fighting your own mother?" Red asked. "Why?"  
"Because you are wrong," was Enigmapaw's simple reply, and in one move both Koret and Red were dead.  
Cries of "They're dead!" rang out, and more cats fled. A few confused cats continued fighting, but the Clan cats quickly finished them.  
"It is over," Wolfvision mewed, and her Sight of the future left her for the final time.

Wolfvision, Nightpaw, Briarpaw, ad Astralnight padded together towards the Tree of Life, smiling at the faint haze of green they saw as newleaf helped repair the fire-bitten forest.  
Briarpaw shivered with nervousness.  
"You mean I'm actually supposed to be a leader?" The RabbitClan shecat asked.  
"Uh huh," Wolfvision replied. "And a darn good one at that."  
"Then you've seen me? In the future? As a leader?" Briarpaw asked excitedly.  
"No, but I just know." Wolfvision smiled.  
Padding forward, Wolfvision touched her nose to the pool of water under the large tree's roots, and dreams overcame her.

Opening her eyes, Wolfvision saw cats she had been close to, that she had known and loved.  
"Welcome, Wolfvision," Stormstar rumbled. "Are you ready to receive your nine lives?"  
Wolfvision nodded, and Thunderwing padded forward.  
"With this life I give you certainty. Use it to have faith in your actions as leader."  
Twostep gave Wolfvision her next life.  
"With this life I give you love. Use it to help any cat, Clan cat or not."  
Pale approached Wolf.  
"With this life I give you care. Use it to reassure your Clan, even in the darkest times."  
Walnutkit bounced forward.  
"With this life I give you energy. Use it to keep up with the young cats in your Clan."  
Blossomstar padded to Wolfvision.  
"With this life I give you life. Use it to keep your Clan happy and well."  
Moonstar gave Wolfvision her next life.  
"With this life I give you wisdom. Use it to discern right from wrong."  
Crystalfern was next.  
"With this life I give you humor. Use it to not shred your Clan's ears."  
Wishlight approached her sister.  
"With this life I give you loyalty to the Code. Use it to guide your paws to the right places."  
Stormstar gave Wolfvision her last life.  
"With this life I give you intelligence. Use it to not run into trees."  
Stepping back, Stormstar raised his voice.  
"I, Stormstar, founder of StormClan, name you Wolfstar, leader of StormClan! Lead the Clans out of the darkness and love with your entire heart!"  
"Wolfstar! Wolfstar!"  
Wolfstar felt a swelling of pride in her chest as she heard her name chanted.

_Beware, cats.  
Beware the Wind.  
Hold onto your faith  
And keep her in your hearts.  
Find inspiration  
Follow the light.  
For if you don't,  
You will be Taken  
By the Wind._


	4. Author's Note

**Wow, this story kind of took a while, even though (on here) the parts were all posted in rapid-fire succession, all one after another. Please review, and I hope to see those of you who read this for the sequel, Warriors of the Outermost: Taken by the Wind, which will be posted in chapters instead of big parts. Since I had it all already typed out in these parts, it was easier to post like this. Please review! Flames will be ignored. ;)**

**Kitte~**


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